Track Listing

1. Journey In Satchidananda
2. Shiva Loka
3. Stopover Bombay
4. Something About John Coltrane
5. Isis And Osiris

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #242028 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Live, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

CD Description
The death of John Coltrane left not only a musical, but a spiritual void among his many followers and admirers. By aligning himself with the searchers among the new generation, John Coltrane legitimised their quest and set a daunting standard of excellence for those who experiment outside the mainstream of modern jazz.
Among those searchers was young Alice McLeod of Detroit, a virtuoso on the vibraphone, piano, organ and harp. John Coltrane had always expressed a fondnessfor the harp, and while young McLeod never did bring that instrument into the context of Trane's working groups, she did bring her rolling, ecstatic style of piano to bear in the saxophonist's last quartets and quintets as Mrs. Alice Coltrane.
JOURNEY IN SATCHIDANANDA, recorded in the fall of 1970, is a serene, composed meditation on the lessons of the 1960's, a mystical work of enduring sweetness and spiritual longing. The concluding cut "Isis And Osiris" (recorded earlier that summer at the Village Gate), is a global village of texture and song, animated by Pharaoh Sanders' gently wafting soprano and Rashied Ali's quicksilver brushwork, as VishnuWood's feathery oud, Charlie Haden's woody bass and Coltrane's sweeping harp combine to create a dreamy vortex of sound. The title cut and "Shiva-Loka"--centred around Cecil McBee's sonorous, lyric bass vamps and Tulsi's droning tamboura--are gorgeous evocations of modal jazz and Indian ragas, again exploiting the contrast between Sanders' reedy chants and Coltrane's blissful arpeggios. And then there's "Stopover Bombay" and "Something About John Coltrane", which reveal the melodious symmetry of Alice Coltrane's piano playing, a singular style deeply imbued in the old time testimonies of the spirituals and the blues.

Customer Reviews

AN EXCELLENT lLITTLE DISCOVERY..
Now, im not particularly well versed in the area of jazz, but was so swept away in most of these tunes i felt compelled to type a few words.
Wife of the late John Coltrane, Journey was recorded in 1970 and was inspired she says, "from my own beloved spiritual perceptor Swami Satchidananda". Satchindananda apparently means 'knowledge-existence- bliss'. Now, all ideologies philosophies and transcendental things aside, this is a totally remarkable & quite acessible piece of jazz fusion.

There is a beautiful/ sublime meditative quality achieved through the use of harp, tambourine, bells, a tamboura, (a 4 stringed indian drone instrument which sounds alot like a sitah), spelling?, & an oud (a north African instrument). So theres a heady collision of exotic sounds that puts the album in its own slightly- 'cosmic psycadellic transcendental' sort of a niche. The musicianship is outstanding - im sure those familiar with jazz would probably recognise the contributors such as Pharoe Saunders & alike.
I bought this around the same time as Miles' Bitches Brew, which in comparison is a much more 'difficult' j.fusion/ listen. This has a level of accesability that anyone new to jazz could appreciate/ enjoy; but that in no way undermines its level of accomplishment, which is stunning & sophisticated without being pretentious or tooooo abstract or free form, like her other album Transfiguration.
After youve immersed yourself in this one, then grab Ptah.. a very close second contendor. I cant imagine anywone with an interest in Jazz not gaining pleasure from this. A very classy cd indeed, oh & the packaging for a change is not the standard plastic rubbish, but linstead ike a mini record sleeve with glossy cover & lovely b/w photos inside on decent paper! So yeah, all in all highly reccomended!!

Superlative 70's jazz fusion
I think Carl Craig said it best when he described Alice Coltrane as a 'woman of rage'. Alice Coltrane was a harp player who, through her husband John, got into jazz fusion. Following on from her husband's obsession with classical Indian music, she made this record which is essentially a combination of deep, intense jazz rhythms and Indian ragas. Focussed and emotional, this record is as deep as your life.

Very good
Blissfully florid and loose acoustic jazz sprawl, dominated by sublime, rippling harp and some remarkable saxophone from Pharoah Sanders. A treat for the ears, with lots of small percussion rattling and tinkling and assorted exotic instruments twanging away. Very warm.