03 July, 2022

A Widow's Journey

Alice Coltrane was not yet out of her twenties when her husband John died in July 1967. She was left with 4 young children to raise on her own. The grief and stress led her to practice something of an ascetic lifestyle for the next couple years which included periods of fasting and sleep deprivation. She even cut and burned herself at times.

Coming out of this period of trials and tribulations, she began to follow the Indian religious teacher Swami Satchidananda and he inspired Coltrane's fourth album, Journey in Satchidananda.

Now, I realize that I have elided over lots of nuance in the story of Alice Coltrane navigating her way through widowhood. But I am no expert on her life story and one doesn't need to know the details of her personal struggles and religious convictions to appreciate her music.

"Journey in Satchidananda" is a recent discovery for me so I have yet to spend as much time with it as it deserves but it's hard not to fall under its spell after only a listen or 2.

A tentative bass note opens the song and it quickly followed by the tanpura played by Tusli. It's an Indian string instrument and provides a droning sound which sits beneath the melodies. What sounds like sleigh bells shimmer in the background. And then Alice Coltrane's harp enters in a wave that is fantastic on headphones. It just washes over you. Rashied Ali's drums slink in and finally Pharoah Sanders's sax enters and takes the lead. Sax eventually gives way to some amazing runs on the harp from Coltrane.

What a wonderful song! I love the Indian flavor mixed with the harp, which I think many of us associate with Western classical. For the most part, the song gently strolls along but the sax and harp solos really cook!

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