Rest in Peace Swamini

January 14, 2007 6:44 AM

Alice Coltrane has passed away at age 69. She'd long been in frail health and died of respiratory failure. (mi)
posted by bluedaniel (32 comments total)

This was originally announced by cribcage in this post about Michael Brecker's passing, but thought it might deserve its own post (though understand if deleted).
posted by bluedaniel at 6:51 AM on January 14, 2007

:-( I will play Ptah the El Daoud in remembrance.
posted by hyperizer at 7:02 AM on January 14, 2007

a beautiful being has passed

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posted by reality at 7:20 AM on January 14, 2007

Oh no!

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posted by mykescipark at 7:28 AM on January 14, 2007

he actually first called it here
posted by caddis at 7:35 AM on January 14, 2007

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posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:13 AM on January 14, 2007

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I could listen to
Journey in Satchidananda forever.
posted by ghastlyfop at 8:42 AM on January 14, 2007

i love her music as well, floaty, jazzy...spiritual.
sad news...
posted by fisherKing at 8:45 AM on January 14, 2007

Man, her and Brecker? This is a bummer. Alice was a great musician in her own right, and also great as a part of John's group. She was one of the few people who could replace McCoy Tyner.

RIP.
posted by papakwanz at 8:58 AM on January 14, 2007

Her organ playing is spine-tingling, totally original, and has changed the way I play piano forever. Bless her.
posted by kozad at 9:59 AM on January 14, 2007

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posted by klangklangston at 10:22 AM on January 14, 2007

I could listen to Journey in Satchidananda forever.

So true. One of the greatest genre-busting albums ever:

With the drone factor supplied either by the tamboura or the oud, the elongation of line and extended duration of intervallic exploration is wondrous. The depths to which these blues are played reveal their roots in African antiquity more fully than any jazz or blues music on record...the "Isis and Osiris" track, which was recorded live at the Village Gate, features some of the most intense bass and drum interplay -- as it exists between Haden and Ali -- in the history of vanguard jazz. Truly, this is a remarkable album, and necessary for anyone interested in the development of modal and experimental jazz. It's also remarkably accessible.

1977's Transcendence is also amazingly, beautifully spiritual:

On "Ghana Nila," Coltrane and her Indian counterparts get downright funky in chanting the names of the Lord. Using a Fender Rhodes, Coltrane creates a Southern gospel groove with Eastern modalities, and she and a chorus begin chanting in a cadence that suggests a Pentecostal Church meeting the Krishna dharma. This track -- and the others that feature this lineup -- keeps the experience of the transcendent rooted in common communal experience, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to sing about God with a shimmering, funky groove for accompaniment. Ever-forward, brave, and truly visionary, Transcendence is another chapter in a body of work by Ms. Coltrane that may only in the 21st century get the understating and critical acclaim it truly deserves.

Both are also some of the most amazing comedown music on earth. Whenever I'd dj a morning-after party, I'd always get amazed questions while playing Satchidananda.

Rest in peace, Alice Coltrane. You really haven't gotten your due.
posted by mediareport at 10:37 AM on January 14, 2007

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posted by klausness at 10:44 AM on January 14, 2007

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And thanks, mediareport.
posted by jokeefe at 10:57 AM on January 14, 2007

(Someone in Iceland used the first five minutes of Satchidananda as the soundtrack for a dull family film; give a listen if you haven't heard it. Not much else from Alice on YouTube or Google Video, but maybe that'll change over the next few days.)
posted by mediareport at 11:04 AM on January 14, 2007

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posted by Kiell at 11:38 AM on January 14, 2007

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posted by lunachic at 12:20 PM on January 14, 2007

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posted by moonbird at 1:16 PM on January 14, 2007

Wow. Peace Be Upon Her.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:44 PM on January 14, 2007

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posted by intermod at 2:13 PM on January 14, 2007

n.p. my scratchy vinyl copy of Journey in Satchidananda

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posted by dhammond at 3:20 PM on January 14, 2007

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posted by motty at 3:27 PM on January 14, 2007

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posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:54 PM on January 14, 2007

Something about her expression on the cover of "Universal Consciousness" always cheered me up whenever I flipped by it in my records ... hope this news will lead a few more folks to look into her music.
posted by ryanshepard at 4:18 PM on January 14, 2007

♪
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:05 PM on January 14, 2007

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posted by gcbv at 5:34 PM on January 14, 2007

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posted by mike3k at 6:15 PM on January 14, 2007

omg mediareport, that Journey in Satchidananda clip is sumptuously spectacular! Saturated bliss! Wow, am going to get that immediately! Thank you.

More sound samples.

More about Alice Coltrane. Her discography and again in greater detail. Her site. About her on NPR and a couple of sound clips from her latest CD.

How wonderful to have discovered her music.

May she rest in peace.
posted by nickyskye at 10:24 PM on January 14, 2007

This feeling is familiar, that tinge of misplaced regret when someone wonderful has been discovered only upon the occasion of his or her passing.

I've been spending my morning in newly-discovered Satchidananda. It is so beautiful here.

Godspeed, Alice Coltrane.
posted by grabbingsand at 5:18 AM on January 15, 2007

Audiversity
posted by caddis at 5:53 AM on January 15, 2007

I just discovered her last year. Amazing music.

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posted by matildaben at 10:09 AM on January 15, 2007

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posted by crawfishpopsicle at 11:09 AM on January 15, 2007