Alice Coltrane: Kirtan; Turiya Sings (Impulse!/digital outlets)

 |   |  <1 min read

Alice Coltrane: Kirtan; Turiya Sings (Impulse!/digital outlets)
The wheel turns again, and -- more often today than just a few years back -- we are hearing spiritual music entering the consciousness.

Last month soulful singer Durand Jones said he wanted his music to heal people, a not uncommon sentiment right now.

And hardly surprising in these days of uncertainty.

Elsewhere has reviewed quite a few ambient, spiritual albums in recent times but Alice Coltrane's comes at us from half a century ago when – after the death of her husband John and seeking deeper spirituality and solace – she adopted the name Turiyasangitananda and recorded a series of meditative, Hindu-framed albums.

These songs – Coltrane, who died in 2007, only accompanied by a low Wurlitzer – were recorded at the ashram she established in California in the mid-Seventies and are Sanskrit hymns (Krishna Krishna, Rama Katha, Govinda Hari among them) and over the hour they have a powerful but subtle spiritual quality which is both meditative and transporting.

Far from the massed chanting of the Radha Krsna Temple or her other work, Kirtan -- more pared back than her recent Ecstatic Music similarly rescued from cassette tapes -- is a deep immersion which is intimate and restful.

Not for everyone of course, but these days probably more welcome than many albums.

.

You can hear this album on Spotify here.


Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   World Music from Elsewhere articles index

Hossam Ramzy and Ossama El Hendy: Ruby (ARC Music)

Hossam Ramzy and Ossama El Hendy: Ruby (ARC Music)

Said it before but will say it again: you should never judge a bellydance album by its cover.  You should look for a name like Hossam Ramzy and consider that a hallmark of quality. The man... > Read more

ITALIAN POP AND ROCK (2010): Searching for the young soul rebels

ITALIAN POP AND ROCK (2010): Searching for the young soul rebels

Let’s be honest, Italian opera might be wonderfully transcendent -- despite Oasis’ Noel Gallagher dismissing Placido, Carreras and the Big Pav as “three fat blokes shouting”... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Kris Kristofferson; Civic, Auckland. April 30, 2014

Kris Kristofferson; Civic, Auckland. April 30, 2014

Exactly 20 years ago I heard a song which changed the way I thought about how a song can be interpreted. It was at Carnegie Hall and the occasion was the 50th anniversary of the Verve jazz... > Read more

Elsewhere Art . . . Douglas Lilburn

Elsewhere Art . . . Douglas Lilburn

The remarkable Douglas Lilburn has appeared a couple of times at Elsewhere because of his musical curiousity and willingness to move from fairly traditional classical music through a specifically... > Read more