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Gordon Rekcikssa
Milt Jackson - The Prophet Speaks
Qwest Records, 1996

Nice pick. I like Milt too but don't have any of his later stuff. I think the latest thing I have is an MJQ live LP from the early 80s.

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Alice Coltrane (Turiyasangitananda) - Infinite Chants
Avatar Book Insitute, 2003

Alice Coltrane (Turiyasangitananda) - Divine Songs
Avatar Book Insitute, 1990



First off, I have to admit that these aren't jazz albums. I'm posting them here because I would think most people searching for information about Alice Coltrane would look under jazz, and they really don't fit under any of the other categories we currently have threads for.

So everyone knows about her marriage to John Coltrane and her involvement in his musical development before his death in 1967. After John's passing, she recorded several albums of transcendental, beautiful jazz on her own, accompanied by such great names as Rashied Ali, Jimmy Garrison, Pharoah Sanders, Joe Henderson, Carlos Santana, and a whole host of others.

In 1970, while in India, Alice Coltrane had an experience she described as a spiritual calling and dedicated her life to this, eventually taking the name of Turiyasangitananda. Although she continued to release spectacular and exploratory jazz albums until 1978, more and more of her life became consumed with the spiritual community she founded near Santa Monica. By 1983, she had left the world of jazz music almost entirely behind and spent her time giving lectures, counseling, and playing organ for Sunday services at the Shanti Anantam Ashram. On extremely rare occasions she would play in public under her given name. The two albums pictured above were recorded during this time.

Divine Songs, originally released on cassette in1987, contains Hindu devotional songs which she performs on a Wurlitzer organ with the accompaniment of some synth strings. Simply put, this is music of staggering beauty.





Infinite Chants (original cassette release, 1990) finds her playing synthesizer and organ, accompanying the students of the Vedantic Center while they perform sacred chants. Coltrane's sweeping synth lines are both surprising and magnificent in this context.





In 2004, Alice Coltrane returned to a jazz format for a final album, Translinear Light. She passed away in 2007 and is buried next to John in New York. The Luaka Bop label plans to release a previously unheard album of her spiritual music in April of this year.

Discogs - Alice Coltrane

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Quote
Gordon Rekcikssa
Alice Coltrane (Turiyasangitananda) - Infinite Chants
Avatar Book Insitute, 2003

Alice Coltrane (Turiyasangitananda) - Divine Songs
Avatar Book Insitute, 1990

Interesting stuff. Years ago she gave an interview in the Wire and I think this kind of music was only mentioned briefly, if at all. Admittedly I know very little about her solo career. I think I only have one of her albums from the 70s. I need to check out more of her stuff eventually.

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Played this last night

Jack McDuff - Sofisticated Funk lp . For the most part , this is a pretty laid back album . But super funky nonetheless . There a a few uptempo funk moments though . Definitely a great listen .

^You gotta love that cover. The (70s) modern chastity belt with keyless entry. Jack McDuff is KILLER funky jazz. I got some 45s from him but no albums, but needless to say it's my kind of funk jazz.

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