Alice Coltrane Spiritual Eternal

Pianist and harpist of enormous talent and greater devotion, John Coltrane's wife was a composer in her own right that deserves to be revisited

It could be said that "behind a great man there is always a great woman", but in the case in question, it would be more appropriate to postulate that "beside a great man there is a great woman in her own right"

 to remain forever in the shadow of her husband, John Coltrane, Alice nevertheless had one of the most enviable careers in the jazz universe: a signature sound signature, a particular taste for experimentation and a voice that, placed at the service of spirituality, transcended limits of your life - and insists on being heard far beyond your time.



It is curious that, for two beings so closely linked by history, John and Alice Coltrane have crossed so briefly: a mere four years have passed since they met, in 1963, until the sudden and unexpected death of the saxophonist, from liver cancer resulting from of years of alcohol and heroin abuse.



In between, they still got married, had three children and influenced each other in the quest for transcendence through music, which resulted in some of John's best albums as they approached both God and free jazz : Ascension, Meditations and, mainly, A Love Supreme.



Alice, previously a pianist in Detroit trios and quartets, would in turn be deeply marked by the passage of this musical prodigy through her life: it was in the aftermath of the pain of her loss that she became more deeply involved with Hinduism, later founding a monastery, change the name to Turiyasangitananda and, in the late 70s, abandon the secular musical career, which he would only resume with a farewell album, Translinear Light, in 2004.



But it is also because of the bitterness of John's death that Alice decides to continue her legacy. He edits his first albums as a bandleader, debuting as a composer and introducing the harp - an instrument that was, at the time, rarely used in this context - and, in the process, leaves his mark on the history of jazz.



A multifaceted and constantly evolving artist, Coltrane started from a structure more traditionally linked to jazz (Huntington Ashram Monastery, 1968) towards more experimental orchestral arrangements, on records like Eternity (1976), to later, surrender completely to religious songs, the first of these being Turiya Sings (1982).