JAZZ
A sound like Alice
Spring has finally arrived, and with it a stunning inaugural release to mark the Year of Alice, celebrating the music of Alice Coltrane, also known as Swamini Turiyasangitananda (or Turiya for short), whose luminous, profoundly spiritual sound is every bit as galvanising as the brightening season.
Alice Coltrane was a pianist, harpist, composer, bandleader, Hindu spiritual leader and the wife of John Coltrane until his death in 1967. Her interest in spirituality had an, in 1965. John Coltrane has long been an emblem of the avant garde and free jazz movements, whereas awareness of Alice’s work, and the many albums she recorded as both a bandleader and accompanist, has steadily grown over the past few decades. Her family and estate, along with Impulse! Records and various other partners, are devoting an entire year to a celebration of her music and influence. The calendar will feature live performances, exhibitions and new releases, beginning with a live album recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1971, featuring such nobility as Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and Jimmy Garrison among others, somehow buried in the ether until now.
