Alice Coltrane, also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few harpists in the history of jazz, she recorded many albums as a bandleader, beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s for Impulse! and other record labels. She was married to jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, with whom she performed in 1966–1967. One of the foremost exponents of spiritual jazz, her eclectic music proved widely influential both within and outside the world of jazz.
Journey in Satchidananda is the fourth solo album by Alice Coltrane. Four of the album's tracks were recorded at the Coltrane home studios in Dix Hills, New York, in November 1970, while the remaining track was recorded live at the Village Gate in July of that year. It was released by Impulse! Records in 1971. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano and harp, and is joined by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, bassists Cecil McBee and Charlie Haden, and drummer Rashied Ali. Vishnu Wood also appears on oud on the live track, while the studio recordings also feature Majid Shabazz on bells and tambourine and Tulsi on tanpura.
Deaf Dumb Blind is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was recorded at A & R Studios in New York City on July 1, 1970, and released on Impulse! Records in the same year. The album's title is bilingual: "Summun Bukmun Umyun" is Arabic for "Deaf Dumb Blind".
Live At The Village Vanguard Again! is a live jazz album by saxophonist John Coltrane. Recorded in May 1966 during a live performance at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York City, the album features Coltrane playing in the free jazz style that characterized his final years. The lineup features Coltrane's quintet, with Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, and flute, Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone and flute, Alice Coltrane on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Rashied Ali on drums, supplemented by Emanuel Rahim on percussion. It was the quintet's only official recording released during Coltrane's lifetime.
Contributions to popular culture involving direct reference to the Hare Krishna mantra include the following.
Divine Songs is an album by Swamini Turiyasangitananda, formerly known as Alice Coltrane. It is an album composed of devotional songs from the Hindu religion. The songs are accompanied by Turiya's signature playing on the Wurlitzer organ. She plays the songs on the organ, beginning with the traditional Indian mode but then improvises and stretches it until it turns back on itself musically. Her use of breaks, syncopation and harmonic invention re-image the songs into something original and nearly unclassifiable.
Universal Consciousness is the fifth solo album by Alice Coltrane, released in 1971 on Impulse! Records. It was re-released on CD in 2002.
Translinear Light is the final studio album by American jazz pianist Alice Coltrane, released in September, 2004 on Impulse Records. It was produced by her son Ravi Coltrane, who also played saxophone for the album as did her third son Oran. In addition to original compositions, it includes two by her husband John Coltrane and four interpretations of traditional songs.
World Galaxy is the sixth solo album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded in November 1971 in New York City, and was released in 1972 by Impulse! Records. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano, organ, harp, tamboura, and percussion, and is joined by saxophonist Frank Lowe, bassist Reggie Workman, drummer Ben Riley, timpanist Elayne Jones, and a string ensemble led by David Sackson. Violinist Leroy Jenkins also appears on soloist on one track, and Swami Satchidananda provides narration. World Galaxy features a trilogy of original compositions bookended by "My Favorite Things" and "A Love Supreme", two pieces for which her husband John Coltrane was known. It was the second in a series of three albums on which Coltrane appeared with an ensemble of strings.
Eternity is an album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded in August through October, 1975, and was released in 1976 by Warner Records, her first release with the label. On the album, Coltrane is joined by ensembles of varying size. It was Coltrane's first album following both her move to California and her decision to become a monastic.
Transcendence is an album by Alice Coltrane, recorded in California in May 1977, and released later that year by Sepia Tone Records. On the album, Coltrane is heard in a variety of instrumental combinations. "Vrindavana" is a solo track, while on "Radhe-Shyam" and "Transcendence", Coltrane appears on harp accompanied by a string ensemble. The remaining tracks are among the earliest examples of her use of Hindu devotional hymns called bhajans, and feature Coltrane on keyboards joined by large groups of singers who also clap and play hand instruments.
The Classic Quartet – The Complete Impulse! Recordings is a 1998 box set by jazz musician John Coltrane.
Kulu Sé Mama is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane. Recorded during 1965, it was released in January 1967 as Impulse! A-9106, and was the last album released during Coltrane's lifetime.
Cosmic Music is a jazz album by John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane released after John Coltrane's death. John Coltrane only plays on two tracks, "Manifestation" and "Reverend King".
Left & Right is an album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk, released on the Atlantic label in 1968. It contains performances by Kirk with Jim Buffington, Julius Watkins, Frank Wess, Rahn Burton, Vernon Martin and Roy Haynes, with Warren Smith, Richard Williams, Dick Griffin, Benny Powell, Pepper Adams, Alice Coltrane, Jimmy Hopps, Daniel Jones and Gerald "Sonny" Brown featuring on an extended track with orchestration by Gil Fuller.
Elevation is a live album by American saxophonist and composer Pharoah Sanders, released in 1973 on the Impulse! label.
Izipho Zam is the third album led by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders recorded in 1969 but not released on the Strata-East label until 1973. It features Sanders with a large ensemble.
Spiritual jazz is a sub-genre of jazz that originated in the United States during the 1960s. The genre is hard to characterize musically but draws from free, avant-garde and modal jazz and thematically focuses on transcendence and spirituality. John Coltrane's 1965 album A Love Supreme is considered landmark in the genre.
Lord of Lords is an album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded in California in July 1972, and was issued later that year by Impulse! Records, her final release for the label. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano, organ, harp, timpani, and percussion, and is joined by bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Ben Riley, and a string ensemble, which she conducts. Lord of Lords features three original compositions along with excerpts from Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird and an arrangement of the traditional piece "Going Home". It was the third in a series of three albums on which Coltrane appeared with an ensemble of strings.
