"I do get very deeply engaged spiritually in the music, because it's a spiritual language for me, it's not a musical language. I'm expressing, articulating deep feeling and deep experience in life, in spiritual life, in God" - Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
I've dug Alice Coltrane's music for a number of years now, first checking in with the sublime excursion of Journey Into Satchidananda recorded in 1970 on the Impulse label. From there, further explorations of Alice's music continued to wow me to her hybridisation of Indian Bhakti (devotional) tradition, Gospel and Jazz - that's a broad range of music yeah. Suffice to say Alice Coltrane was one of few people to pull such a combination off so successfully. What I find exciting about these early musical explorations, particularly of the Indian bhajan/kirtan tradition, and the associated Indian philosophical ideas, was Alice's vibrant and bold arrangements. Take a side trip and look at an example - the 1972 album World Galaxy / Alice Coltrane with Strings. This was an album full of intense musical interpretations of Indian spiritual ideas (and Yoruban), here are some tumultuous, cathartic arrangements. Even the "strings" were no lightweight nod to the easy listening crowd, they were assertive. Galaxy Around Olodumare is an enormous, epic dedication to the Yoruban supreme deity, this song churns and explodes like a volcano. Galaxy In Satchidananda is an island from this sending forth, the strings billow majestically while Alices harp darts in and out of the soundfield. Musically, it suggests a kind of active peace and maybe even a resolution, till organ riffage cuts through in tandem with some swirling tamboura. The album finishes with John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. It begins with a sermon on Love by one of Alice's spiritual teachers Swami Satchidananda - then it takes off into one of the funkiest takes on this iconic song.
And so, I'm passengered in a car on my way to work, it's June abouts and this chant happens, morning radio mind - RRR. I turn to my wife, "this is Alice Coltrane, but like nothing I've heard from her, wow". Sure'nuff. It's a sublime slice of calm midst the clamour of morning rush hour - Om Shanti.
Then, some month later, the needles travelling the groove of Side 1. It opens with Om Rama, a elevated, relatively fast chant, akin to the peaks of a kirtan - you see, often a kirtan will start slow and build to an intense, fervoured peak. And wow, there's these really bold organ surges that are really, really whacked. Vortexesque. The chant develops and after a passage of those vortexes, becomes a solo male testifying, all soulful praise. Then the return of the chorus and some gently ebbing organ till it takes us back into the vortex, seriously epic. Man - to sit in and participate in one of these would have been really special. And then, track 2, Om Shanti. An intonation of loving devotion, my brains melting, the suns pouring through my window as the shadows stretch. And that chin is wobbling yeah, pure feeling, I'm holding it together, just. Beauty, such divine beauty. A gospel response repeats the chant and floods in synchrony with the gentling sun. Here is the joy of the Rasa.
Rama Rama, is a beautifully placid work and the incantation here is similar to the quality of Om Shanti. I'm not sure, but my educated guess is this is a Baul song - the Bauls are a community of musician mystics who hail from Bangladesh. One thing particular to some Baul songs, is that they will sometimes praise the name of god from say both Islamic tradition (Allah) and Indian tradition (in this song, Rama) within a single song - they are all about acknowledging the oneness of all gods. Throughout this track, the tambura drone is more to the fore, whereas traditionally the tambura serves as the tonic, a constant behind the music. The keys ebb, flow and wheel like thermals - and while initially subdued, sometimes they edge towards that vortexing. A steady rhythm pulses. You know, the vocal seems a little more "gone" sometimes, like Alice is lost in ecstacy. Rama Guru, is another fast chant, largely sung by the chorus. The giddying keys here sound like an air-raid siren, but they have an ascending, hail-like quality too. Heady stuff. The chorus get quite loose, there's abandon here. This feeds into the last track on this side, a momentarily swirling, multi-layered chant, Hari Narayan. It's billowed by a steady river of synth, that variously drowns out and sometimes accompanies the chant. This is really ground breaking music as far as bhajan goes, and I have no doubt it will appeal to synthophiles, amongst other adventurous listening folk.
Journey to Satchidananda - a sanskrit word meaning Truth Knowledge Bliss, features a grandiose, swelling organ intro. Then, soft, gently intoned peace. Calm. Journey's end - dissolutions beginning. This track explores choral music and so, western classical enters the palette. The lyrics are in English too. Wow! Magnificent. It features a Tamil vocal solo - an utterly divine piece. An ancient Egyptian mantra Er Ra, follows, it features Alice playing the harp accompanying a beautiful, yearning vocal line - again rasa. About here, I realise the sensitivity of the compiler, as the final track of side 3, another sublimely yearning vocal, Keshava Murahara takes the needle, and me, inward to the centre.
The last side opens with the gospel like celebration of Krishna Japaye, and for the first time, I kind of feel like I'm looking in on something not intended for any but those present participating. And here is a very real thing, bhajan & kirtan, while popularised to the nth degree nowadays, is originally a participatory, experiential music. It is all about a community coming together and singing the praises of God. It's akin to say the difference between listening to a recording of a Tibetan ritual rite, and experiencing it within the context of being a practitioner. However, and this is the charm of this release, the music predominantly stands alone as a beautiful listening experience. So it is with the closing Rama Katha, a song inspired by the epic "tale", the Ramayana. Once more the sublime, calming incantation of Alice brings it all home to a place we all want to be from time to time, residing in the deepest peace. Om Shanti.
It's interesting to note that the music contained on these four sides was released purely for the Ashram that Alice founded, originally as cassettes.
nb.It's common in ashrams (spiritual communities) for particularly keen devotees to be given Sanskrit spiritual names, often when given, they reflect a quality that the devotee has. In Alice Coltranes instance, she was named Turiyasangitananda. Check this out - Turiya is the fourth transcendent state, the Supreme reality in yoga practice, witness consciousness; Sangita refers to music and performing art; Ananda which is pretty much added to most Swami's names, means bliss. Put it all together. Dig?
"Her name was Turiyasangitananda which means " the Lords highest, transcendental song of bliss" - Radha Botofasina-Reyes, from the liner notes.
And so, I'm passengered in a car on my way to work, it's June abouts and this chant happens, morning radio mind - RRR. I turn to my wife, "this is Alice Coltrane, but like nothing I've heard from her, wow". Sure'nuff. It's a sublime slice of calm midst the clamour of morning rush hour - Om Shanti.
Then, some month later, the needles travelling the groove of Side 1. It opens with Om Rama, a elevated, relatively fast chant, akin to the peaks of a kirtan - you see, often a kirtan will start slow and build to an intense, fervoured peak. And wow, there's these really bold organ surges that are really, really whacked. Vortexesque. The chant develops and after a passage of those vortexes, becomes a solo male testifying, all soulful praise. Then the return of the chorus and some gently ebbing organ till it takes us back into the vortex, seriously epic. Man - to sit in and participate in one of these would have been really special. And then, track 2, Om Shanti. An intonation of loving devotion, my brains melting, the suns pouring through my window as the shadows stretch. And that chin is wobbling yeah, pure feeling, I'm holding it together, just. Beauty, such divine beauty. A gospel response repeats the chant and floods in synchrony with the gentling sun. Here is the joy of the Rasa.
Rama Rama, is a beautifully placid work and the incantation here is similar to the quality of Om Shanti. I'm not sure, but my educated guess is this is a Baul song - the Bauls are a community of musician mystics who hail from Bangladesh. One thing particular to some Baul songs, is that they will sometimes praise the name of god from say both Islamic tradition (Allah) and Indian tradition (in this song, Rama) within a single song - they are all about acknowledging the oneness of all gods. Throughout this track, the tambura drone is more to the fore, whereas traditionally the tambura serves as the tonic, a constant behind the music. The keys ebb, flow and wheel like thermals - and while initially subdued, sometimes they edge towards that vortexing. A steady rhythm pulses. You know, the vocal seems a little more "gone" sometimes, like Alice is lost in ecstacy. Rama Guru, is another fast chant, largely sung by the chorus. The giddying keys here sound like an air-raid siren, but they have an ascending, hail-like quality too. Heady stuff. The chorus get quite loose, there's abandon here. This feeds into the last track on this side, a momentarily swirling, multi-layered chant, Hari Narayan. It's billowed by a steady river of synth, that variously drowns out and sometimes accompanies the chant. This is really ground breaking music as far as bhajan goes, and I have no doubt it will appeal to synthophiles, amongst other adventurous listening folk.
Journey to Satchidananda - a sanskrit word meaning Truth Knowledge Bliss, features a grandiose, swelling organ intro. Then, soft, gently intoned peace. Calm. Journey's end - dissolutions beginning. This track explores choral music and so, western classical enters the palette. The lyrics are in English too. Wow! Magnificent. It features a Tamil vocal solo - an utterly divine piece. An ancient Egyptian mantra Er Ra, follows, it features Alice playing the harp accompanying a beautiful, yearning vocal line - again rasa. About here, I realise the sensitivity of the compiler, as the final track of side 3, another sublimely yearning vocal, Keshava Murahara takes the needle, and me, inward to the centre.
The last side opens with the gospel like celebration of Krishna Japaye, and for the first time, I kind of feel like I'm looking in on something not intended for any but those present participating. And here is a very real thing, bhajan & kirtan, while popularised to the nth degree nowadays, is originally a participatory, experiential music. It is all about a community coming together and singing the praises of God. It's akin to say the difference between listening to a recording of a Tibetan ritual rite, and experiencing it within the context of being a practitioner. However, and this is the charm of this release, the music predominantly stands alone as a beautiful listening experience. So it is with the closing Rama Katha, a song inspired by the epic "tale", the Ramayana. Once more the sublime, calming incantation of Alice brings it all home to a place we all want to be from time to time, residing in the deepest peace. Om Shanti.
It's interesting to note that the music contained on these four sides was released purely for the Ashram that Alice founded, originally as cassettes.
nb.It's common in ashrams (spiritual communities) for particularly keen devotees to be given Sanskrit spiritual names, often when given, they reflect a quality that the devotee has. In Alice Coltranes instance, she was named Turiyasangitananda. Check this out - Turiya is the fourth transcendent state, the Supreme reality in yoga practice, witness consciousness; Sangita refers to music and performing art; Ananda which is pretty much added to most Swami's names, means bliss. Put it all together. Dig?
"Her name was Turiyasangitananda which means " the Lords highest, transcendental song of bliss" - Radha Botofasina-Reyes, from the liner notes.
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