Her debut as leader, a year after John’s death, with Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Ben Riley and Rashied Ali steeply conjuring an ecstatic blend of JC and Bud Powell, blues, gospel and free jazz, trained unflinchingly on Nature and Truth, witches and devils, the Mystical and the Divine.
Tremendous music — deeply rooted, rawly searching, still thrillingly uplifting.
‘Verve By Request.’

On harp and piano — with Pharoah Sanders (soprano sax), Vishnu Wood (oud), Rashied Ali (drums), Cecil McBee (bass), Charlie Haden (bass), Majid Shabazz (bells, tambourine), Tulsi (tamboura).
Transcendent jazz from 1970; full fathom five deep but compellingly accessible. Our favourite of all her records, and over the decades our first recommendation as an introduction to her work.
According to AC’s sleeve note, ‘Anyone listening to this selection should try to envision himself floating on an ocean of Satchinandaji’s love, which is literally carrying countless devotees across the vicissitudes and stormy blasts of life to the other shore.’

Stone classic Alice. Turiya And Ramakrishna is a gorgeous piano blues; otherwise she is joined by Joe Henderson and Pharoah Sanders, Ron Carter and Ben Riley.

Trying out new ideas (including Stravinsky) after leaving Impulse! in 1975, by turns deploying Wurlitzer, Rhodes and harp, and Charlie Haden and Ben Riley, percussionists, and an orchestra.

‘Texts and numerous interviews pay tribute to a truly extraordinary figure in 20th-century American jazz. This volume unpacks the cultural legacy of musician, spiritual leader, wife and mother Alice Coltrane. Accompanying the eponymous exhibition at Los Angeles’ Hammer Museum (running till May 4), the book takes its title from Coltrane’s 1977 autobiography and devotional text, Monument Eternal, in which she reflected on her newfound spiritual beliefs and the path to healing and self-discovery. Coltrane was ‘ahead of her time,’ as her son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, says: she was ‘one of the first people to move outside the mainstream, and certainly one of the first female, Black, American jazz musicians to record her own music in her own studio, and to release music on her own terms.’ Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal explores themes including spiritual transcendence, sonic innovation and architectural intimacy. The project juxtaposes works from nineteen contemporary American artists with pieces of ephemera from Coltrane’s archive — including handwritten sheet music, unreleased audio recordings and rarely seen footage — to honor her cultural output and practice.’
Cloth hardcover with debossing. 12.6” x 9.8”. 192 pages.