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Kérjen
árajánlatot! |
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| 1. | The Sun
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| 2. | Lovely Sky Boat
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| 3. | Jaya Jaya Rama
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| 4. | Ptah, the El Daoud
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| 5. | Journey in Satchidananda
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| 6. | Universal Consciousness
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| 7. | Excerpts from the Firebird
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| 8. | Translinear Light
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Jazz / Free Jazz; Avant-Garde Jazz; Modal Music; Avant-Garde
Recorded: Jan 29, 1968-Apr 29, 2000
"Musicians were very late to come to Alice Coltrane," notes Ed Michel, co-producer of nearly all her Impulse albums. "Many took the attitude of 'She's just Coltrane's widow.' I don't know whether it was a question of not being able to get past her spirituality, or the attitude that many musicians have about women. That certainly wasn't true of people who played with her, who treated her with the respect she deserved and did as they were told. Guys who wouldn't put up with anything from a lot of people would 'Yes, ma'am' her because she earned it."
She was born Alice McLeod to a musical family in Detroit: brother Ernie Farrow was a jazz bassist (he played for many years with multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef), while sister Marilyn became a Motown songwriter (penning the Diana Ross hit "Love Hangover," among other tunes). Alice studied classical piano from an early age and turned twenty-five in 1962, the year that turned her life around.
That year she traveled to Paris to study with bebop legend Bud Powell, then returned to the US and a regular gig in a group led by vibraphonist Terry Gibbs. She was playing with Gibbs that year when she encountered John Coltrane in a New York jazz club.
"Before I even met him and became part of the group and part of his life, there was something in me that knew that there is a spiritual, musical connection - a divine connection - with this person," she recalls. "Because there were things that he said to me, they weren't spoken with the human voice. And once I got in the band, that was it."
Alice joined her husband's band at the end of 1965, when John Coltrane dissolved his famed lineup of McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Jimmy Garrison on bass. He replaced the quartet with a quintet that kept Garrison and featured Pharoah Sanders's throaty growl on tenor saxophone (and later flute, piccolo, and percussion), Rashied Ali's "multi-directional" drumming (Coltrane's term), and Alice's facile, tidal sweeps along the keyboard. She still credits that arpeggio-rich, democratic approach - first evident on albums recorded with her husband - to his direction. "He said, 'You have all those keys. Why don't you play all of them as completely as you can?' So that's why you always hear that sound. You will hear it forever, as long as I live, I tell you."
In a five-year flash after their first meeting, Alice McLeod became John Coltrane's bandmate, mother to his three sons (in addition to a daughter by singer Kenny Hagood), and, in July of 1967, his 30-year-old widow. "Once John had left, that was a very crucial year for our family," she says. "Everything was held in suspension. We had all of these plans for albums, for a [home] studio. He had ordered me a harp because I had no experience with it. He would let me know that if there's something you really want done, do it yourself. Not only have a studio, but also make your own recordings. Any of the companies could give you distribution. The whole production would be done by us."
Coltrane's departure on July 17, 1967 put those plans on hold for but a moment. Within a few months, the harp arrived and Alice began to master it. A recording studio was built in the garage of the Coltranes' Dix Hills home on Long Island, and she began to record there. It wasn't long before Impulse decided to offer a contract - an idea her husband had once suggested.
"I never really thought much about recording [as a leader] at all. But John would mention it occasionally. And I am sure that he spoke with [Impulse chief] Bob Thiele, because John said, 'You know, they're very much interested, if you can put out some original music, some new music.'"
A Monastic Trio was Alice's first album as a leader, her first of eight on Impulse, and her first - and last - produced under Thiele's oversight (Alice herself was credited as producer). It featured her in the company of former associates from John Coltrane's final lineup (Sanders, Garrison, Ali), and it flowed with her signature piano style and her recording debut on harp.
Her next three albums - all recorded in her home studio, save for an odd live performance - represent a creative peak. They also feature music with minimal precedent in the jazz tradition. Trusting musical intuition, and deeply affected by her studies in Eastern spirituality, she fused free, modally based jazz, Indian song structures and instrumentation, and a deep-rooted gospel feel.
Huntington Ashram Monastery, released in late 1969, featured Coltrane on harp and piano, supported by Ali on drums and Ron Carter on bass. The openness of the deceptively simple trio setting emphasized Carter's deep melodic sensibility. Ptah, the El Daoud was highlighted by the inclusion of the matching tenor saxophones of Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson on the title track. Journey in Satchidananda stands as the most complete integration of her influences of this period. Recorded in 1970 with Sanders, Ali, and bassist Cecil McBee, it also featured extra percussion and the distinctive drone of the tamboura.
As Coltrane's relationship with Impulse developed, she found that "they never said, 'We like what you're doing and everything is good, but what about going on the charts with something the young people might like?'" In 1971, with creative license and a budget to explore, she began working with orchestral support. She delivered three more titles over the next two years that incorporated a full string section and a Wurlitzer organ (with its standout reedy electronic tone) into her fusion of jazz tunes, drone-drenched ragas, and ritual Hindu chants.
Universal Consciousness introduced Alice Coltrane as arranger (with transcribing help from Ornette Coleman), recording a series of organ-with-strings performances dedicated to her guru, Swami Satchidananda. The music was marked in its emotional range - from dark and brooding (as on the title track) to exultant and feather-light. World Galaxy followed, with the swami's intonations added to the musical mix and a group that included newly arrived avant-garders like saxophonist Frank Lowe and violinist Leroy Jenkins.
In 1972, Alice Coltrane relocated her family from New York City suburbia to Southern California, where she founded a center for Vedantic studies. She recorded her last Impulse album of the Seventies that year: Lord of Lords, an ambitious mix of originals plus excerpts from Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, performed by classical string musicians, bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Ben Riley, and Coltrane herself on organ, harp, and percussion.
After leaving Impulse, Coltrane shifted to Warner Bros. to record a handful of titles before retiring from the recording scene in 1978. Nearly three decades later, in 2004, she returned to the studio at the urging of her saxophonist son Ravi. Translinear Light was a collection of old spirituals, Hindu songs, and Coltrane originals (from both John and Alice) that was produced by Ravi and released on the Impulse imprint to critical acclaim.
Of her Impulse recordings, Alice Coltrane says: "I didn't consider those albums any different from other records I did, because I think that you continue on from where you are in your own evolution." About the label that opened the door for her, she adds: "Impulse was an innovator, a pioneer. A label that believed in many [who] were bringing in a new sound and new music."
---Ashley Kahn, February 2006
Alice Coltrane - Composition
Pharoah Sanders - (1, 4-8) Flute, Tenor Saxophone
Jimmy Garrison - (1-2, 6) Bass
Ben Riley - (1, 4, 7) Drums
Rashied Ali - (2-3, 5) Drums
Joe Henderson - (4) Saxophone
Jack DeJohnette - (6, 8) Drums
Ravi Coltrane - (8) Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Charlie Haden - (7, 8) Bass |
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