Transfiguration | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 1978 | |||
Recorded | April 16, 1978 | |||
Venue | Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, California | |||
Genre | Free jazz | |||
Length | 1:19:44 | |||
Label | Warner Bros WB 3218 | |||
Producer | Ed Michel | |||
Alice Coltrane chronology | ||||
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Transfiguration is a live album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded in Los Angeles, California, in April 1978, and was released as a double album later that year by Warner Bros. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano and organ, and is joined by bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Roy Haynes. One track, "Prema," also includes an overdubbed string section. Transfiguration features five original compositions plus an extended version of John Coltrane's "Leo." [1] [2] It was her last jazz-oriented album, and last commercial release, until 2004's Translinear Light . [3] Coltrane biographer Franya J. Berkman called it "her farewell to the jazz business." [4]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [5] |
The Vinyl District | A [6] |
The Guardian | [7] |
In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "If you can only own one Alice Coltrane record, this should be it." [1]
A writer for All About Jazz stated that the album "represents the culmination of her spiritual music via recordings," and commented: "Her Detroit church organist experience is on full display from the beginning. If she performed at this level in her church back in the '50s, it certainly would have appropriately foreshadowed perhaps the hippest of churches, the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco." [8]
John Eyles of the BBC noted that Coltrane's "improvisations show little development... If that reads like a criticism, it isn't meant to be; the combination of Coltrane's keyboards with Workman and Haynes is highly successful. They provide the flexibility and responsiveness that Coltrane needs to support her playing and stop the minimalism becoming one-dimensional." [9]
The Vinyl District's Joseph Neff called the album "a return to roots but in no way a stylistic backslide" and "a wondrously searching gem," and described "Leo" as "an enthralling showstopper," in which "any lingering talk of the inadequacy of '70s exploratory jazz dissipates like so much hot air." [6]
The Guardian's John Fordham stated that Haynes and Workman are "perfect foils," and wrote: "Coltrane's highly distinctive organ sound at times resembles Northumbrian pipes, with added sitar-like whirrs and pitch bends, but there are moments of churning chordwork, warped melody and heated climaxes on this session." [7]
Writing for Spectrum Culture, Daniel Bromfield described the album as "a true masterpiece" and "Coltrane's most convincingly spiritual record." He commented: "It seems to summon up a presence greater than itself through the sheer force of the sound she and the rhythm section that backs her kicks up... Transfiguration is so extreme it feels like the logical limit to how far she can push the sound and form of jazz." [10]
Writer Jordannah Elizabeth stated: "This one is for the enthusiasts who don't want chocolate in their peanut butter. It's as if she respectfully left something for the people who she knew would not spiritually ascend into the clouds with her. She knew that it was end of the road for her and some of her loyal, purist followers, and she did a brilliant job of jamming her heart out and, in the process, creating a flawless piece of work." [11]
"Leo" composed by John Coltrane. Remaining tracks composed by Alice Coltrane.
Violins:
Violas:
Cellos:
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.
Alice Coltrane, also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician, composer and swamini.
Reginald "Reggie" Workman is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey.
A Monastic Trio is the first solo album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded in 1968 at the John Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, New York, and was released later that year by Impulse! Records. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano and harp, and is joined by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Rashied Ali, all of whom were members of John Coltrane's last quintet. Drummer Ben Riley also appears on one track. The album was reissued on CD in 1998 with three additional tracks, one of which is a piano solo recorded in 1967.
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.
Illuminations is a 1974 collaboration between Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana. Saxophonist/flautist Jules Broussard, keyboardist Tom Coster, drummer Jack DeJohnette, percussionist Armando Peraza and bassist Dave Holland also contributed to the album.
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. It was recorded from April to June, 1971, in New York City and at the Coltrane home studios in Dix Hills, New York, and was released later that year by Impulse! Records. On the album, Coltrane appears on harp and organ, and is joined by bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummers Jack DeJohnette, Rashied Ali, and Clifford Jarvis, and, on three tracks, a quartet of violins playing parts arranged by Ornette Coleman. It was the first in a series of three albums on which Coltrane appeared with an ensemble of strings.
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.
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".
Joseph Brazil was an American jazz saxophonist and educator. Local musicians and touring acts performed in his basement. He taught jazz at Garfield High School, co-founded the Black Music curriculum at the University of Washington, and founded the Black Academy of Music in Seattle. He appeared on the albums Om by John Coltrane and Mystic Voyage by Roy Ayers.
Radha Renee Reyes-Botofasina is an Afro-Cuban American harpist, pianist and vocalist from Brooklyn, N.Y.
Turiya Sings is an album by Alice Coltrane, recorded in 1981 during a marathon fifteen-hour session, and initially released in 1982 on privately-pressed cassette for her Vedantic Center's students. The album features recordings of devotional Sanskrit songs sung by Coltrane, accompanied by overdubbed strings and synthesised instrumentation, and marks her first recorded appearance as a vocalist.
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.
Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana is an album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded in California in August 1976, and was released in 1977 by Warner Bros. On the album, Coltrane is joined by students from the Vedantic Center, who sing, clap, and play hand percussion, and by her daughter Sita Michelle Coltrane and son Arjuna John Coltrane Jr.
Lord of Lords is an album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded in California in July 1972, and was issued in 1973 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.
Kirtan: Turiya Sings is an album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded on June 23, 1981, at Redwing Sound in Los Angeles, California, and was released in 2021 by Impulse! Records. The album, a stripped-down version of 1982's Turiya Sings, features Coltrane on vocals and organ.