ALICE COLTRANE Vinilo y CD

Review: Deeper into Alice Coltrane's catalogue - beyond 'Journey In Satchidananda' or 'Lord Of Lords' - comes this classic bit with cosmic bandleader Pharoah Sanders and saxophonist visionary Joe Henderson. 'Ptah The El Daoud' was initially recorded and released in 1970, and now gets a reissue via Audio Clarity, whose aim with this one is to bring the listener a perfect replica of the original. Made in the basement of her then house in Long Island, New York, this is a light, clarinetting affair; with the track 'Turiya & Ramakrishna' sonically opining Coltrane's Vedantic Hindu views on consciousness, and the seminal 'Blue Nile' nailing sinister serialist moods in their trilling, dark saxophone bits. Of note is that Joe Henderson was recorded on the left channel throughout, while Sanders was on the right; Coltrane noted this decision was intentional, with the two artists' disciplines being so different as to represent the opposing sides of the brain.

Review: The fifth solo album from one of the boldest travellers in jazz, Universal Consciousness was a breakthrough for Alice Coltrane and surely one of the most important LPs in the genre. Casting off limitations and heading into brilliant bursts of dissonance and enlightenment at every turn, it's a visceral listen led by Coltrane herself on harp and organ. There are moments of melodious calm beyond the dissonant drama of tracks like 'Battle At Armageddon' - by comparison 'Oh Allah' has a sweet and tender spirit even if Coltrane's nimble organ playing still borders on the frenetic. The clarity of vision and openness to new possibilities in music are staggering and unmatched, even 50 years on.