Jazz Archives

Cosmic Music, a jazz album by John Coltrane and his wife Alice Coltrane, was released shortly after the death of John Coltrane. The album has the following tracks: "Manifestation", "Reverend King", "Lord Help Me", and "Sun". Reverend King is a tribute to the famous Martin Luther King Jr.  John Coltrane's two tracks, among his last, were recorded in 1966 and Alice's two tracks were recorded in 1968. True to the name of the album, Cosmic, the music is intense, spiritual, soul searching and moving, with the common perception that John introduced fundamentals of Indian philosophy into jazz. The album has John Coltrane on the saxophone and Alice Coltrane playing the piano.

:::Review by www.vinylrevinyl.com:::

Alice And John Coltrane – Cosmic Music (1966)

A1 Manifestation 11:14
Percussion – Rashied Ali, Ray Appleton
Written-By – John Coltrane

A2 Lord, Help Me To Be 7:11
Percussion – Ben Riley
Written-By – Alice Coltrane

B1 Reverend King 10:45
Percussion – Rashied Ali, Ray Appleton
Written-By – John Coltrane

B2 The Sun 3:50
Flute [Traces Of Pharoah's Flute Can Be Heard In The Distant Backround], Vocals [Invocation] – Pharoah Sanders
Vocals [Invocation] – John Coltrane
Written-By – Alice Coltrane
Percussion – Ben Riley

Credits
Bass, Violin – Jimmy Garrison
Flute, Tenor Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders
Piano – Alice Coltrane
Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – John Coltrane

Sometimes written off as an also-ran to her more famous husband, Alice Coltrane's work of the late '60s and early '70s shows that she was a strong composer and performer in her own right, with a unique ability to impregnate her music with spirituality and gentleness without losing its edges or depth. Ptah the El Daoud is a truly great album, and listeners who surrender themselves to it emerge on the other side of its 46 minutes transformed. From the purifying catharsis of the first moments of the title track to the last moments of "Mantra," with its disjointed piano dance and passionate ribbons of tenor cast out into the universe, the album resonates with beauty, clarity, and emotion. Coltrane's piano solo on "Turiya and Ramakrishna" is a lush, melancholy, soothing blues, punctuated only by hushed bells and the sandy whisper of Ben Riley's drums and later exchanged for an equally emotive solo by bassist Ron Carter. "Blue Nile" is a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; Coltrane's sweeping flourishes on the harp nestle in perfectly with flute solos by Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson to produce a warm cocoon of sound that is colored by evocations of water, greenness, and birds. Perhaps as strong as the writing here, though, are the performances that Coltrane coaxes from her sidemen, especially the horn players. Joe Henderson, who can always be counted on for technical excellence, gives a performance that is simply on a whole other level from much of his other work -- freer, more open, and more fluid here than nearly anywhere else. Pharoah Sanders, who at times with John Coltrane seemed like a magnetic force of entropy, pulling him toward increasing levels of chaos, shows all of the innovation and spiritual energy here that he is known for, with none of the screeching. Overlooked and buried for years in obscurity, this album deserves to be embraced for the gem it is.

:::Review by Stacia Proefrock:::

Alice Coltrane - Ptah The El Daoud (1970)

1. Ptah, The El Daoud 13:58
2. Turiya And Ramakrishna 8:19
3. Blue Nile 6:58
4. Mantra 16:33

Credits
Bass - Ron Carter
Composed By - Alice Coltrane
Drums - Ben Riley
Harp, Piano - Alice Coltrane
Saxophone [Tenor], Flute [Alto, Left Channel] - Joe Henderson
Saxophone [Tenor], Flute [Alto], Bells [Right Channel] - Pharoah Sanders