after eight wondrous records on ImpulseCombining the drones and textures of India, the gospel and R&B of her Detroit youth and the dissonance of modern classical composition, Coltranes music in the 70s would become increasingly difficult to categorize. A key album for those interested in the progression of modal and experimental jazz, this is not one to miss. Released in 1976, Eternity was Alice Coltranes first album for Warner Bros. The albums extensive use of Middle Eastern and Indian traditional instruments, including Ouds and Tambouras, reflect Coltrane’s musical digression from her earlier motifs of the more straightforward format of the jazz quartet, whilst the thematic content and playing styles, particularly her own and Pharoah Sanders’ indicate a more personal and spiritual music development. Highlights of the album include the opening track of the B Side, ‘Something About John Coltrane’, an adaptation based on themes created by her late husband formulated around an amalgamation of modal jazz and orchestral arrangements, ‘Stopover Bombay’ a reflection on a vivid five-week stay in India that Coltrane was meant to go on in 1970 and, naturally, the titular track which focuses on her spiritual development towards enlightenment. The album explores this journey and the overcoming of her ‘tapas’ (a Sanskrit term she used to describe her suffering). ‘Journey in Satchidananda’ is Alice Coltrane’s fourth studio album and one of her most critically acclaimed works from her recording period of 1968-1977. These tribulations led her to seek guidance from the guru Swami Satchidananda with whom she studied, practiced and advanced her spiritual journey.
Written, arranged and performed alongside saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques, the album is an exploration into the musical conceptualisation of the spiritual realm that Coltrane and Sanders were both heavily engaged with.įollowing the death of her husband, Coltrane experienced a period of trial during which she suffered from severe weight loss, sleepless nights and hallucinations. Its lush orchestration, emphasis on Indian classical music and extended harp solos are typical of Coltrane’s spiritually informed writing and playing styles which she developed following the death of her husband, John Coltrane, in 1967. ‘Journey in Satchidananda’ is Alice Coltrane’s fourth studio album and one of her most critically acclaimed works from her recording period of 1968-1977.