Jazz Is Dead: Alice Coltrane

ALICE COLTRANE

Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda was an American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, singer, composer, swamini, and the wife of John Coltrane. Turiyasangitananda translates as the Transcendental Lord’s highest song of Bliss.
Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1937, Alice was the fifth of six children. Her interest in music blossomed in early childhood. By the age of nine, she played organ during services at Mount Olive Baptist church.In the early 60’s she began playing jazz as a professional in Detroit with her own trio and as a duo with vibist Terry Pollard. Alice would collaborate and perform with Kenny Clarke, Kenny Burrell, Ornette Coleman, Pharaoh Sanders, Charlie Haden, Roy Haynes, Jack DeJonette, and Carlos Santana. Many people are unaware that she replaced McCoy Tyner as pianist with the John Coltrane quartet and continued to play and record with the band until John’s death in 1967.

 

RAVI COLTRANE:
Ravi Coltrane is a Grammy™-nominated saxophonist, bandleader, and composer with a 20+ year career. He has recorded notable albums, performed with legends like McCoy Tyner and Jack DeJohnette, and co-founded the independent label RKM. The son of jazz icons John and Alice Coltrane, Ravi was instrumental in bringing his mother back to music, producing her 2004 album Translinear Light. He has released six albums as a leader, with his latest, Spirit Fiction, on Blue Note.