Search - Alice Coltrane :: Transcendence

Another eclectic album from Alice Coltrane.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 11/07/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"1977's "Transcendence" was Alice Coltrane's last jazz studio album until her pleasantly surprising return in 2004. Coltrane's Warner Brothers years are marked by a decidingly diverse bent, with orchestral arrangements being common. This album features both a string quartet on several tracks and a vocal choir on several others.



What would have been the first side of the disc is all instrumetnal-- "Radhe-Shyam" and "Transcedence" feature Coltrane's harp augmented by strings. Both pieces are intriguing, the former is deeply meditative before breaking open into a positively swirling and ecstatic arrangement, the latter succeeds a bit less, building to a head from a quiet and restrained beginning. Sandwiched in between these, "Vrindavana Sanchara" features Coltrane's harp interleaved with droning tamboura and percussion in a cascading piece that, unfortunately, doesn't go anywhere.



The seocnd side is four vocal pieces that are all fairly indistinct-- Coltrane works on organ the whole time and is backed by several percussionists. The pieces have a bizarre India-meets-gospel bent to them; all of them are quite listenable, none of them really stand out.



Invariably, that's the summation of the album-- it's all decent enough stuff, but little of it stands out. If you're sold on Alice Coltrane, this is the one to get, if you're looking to be sold, either "Journey in Satchidananda" or "Translinear Light" is the place to start."

Jazzless ambience for mediatation

Scott Woods | Columbus, Ohio United States | 10/20/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is practically not a jazz record, but Coltrane's take on spiritualizations of jazz means. It's a pretty hardcore meditation record with a little jazz bite (track 2's occassional jarring strums here and there, for instance), so I can't safely recommend it for even fans of her earlier, more straight-ahead work. Take the spacey ruminations of, say, "Journey To...", take out the saxes and semi-traditional rhythms, add soem strings and pump up the harp and you're left with this record.
I think world music or ambient heads would get more out of this than the average jazz cat."

An Empowering conbination of Jazz,Eastern spirituality and T

Travis Jimmerson | Decatur, Georgia United States | 04/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So very many have wanted to define jazz music. But being one of

the most important roots of America jazz has blossomed into so many forms of expression as far as sound is concerned. Alice Coltrane threads into her sound that which is ancient,other worldly,historical and divine. Each of her albums like any

artist's piece of work is a seperate experience not quite like

the album before or after. One cannot go into Alice Coltrane's

music only to expect sameness as the other works.If you are

willing to expand yourself just as jazz music has over time

you will appreciate what Coltrane has contributed to this piece

of music."