Customer Reviews

Journey In Satchidananda

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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Perhaps the best album Alice Coltrane recorded, "Journey in Satchidananda" is one of those records where everything comes together-- Alice Coltrane took her late husband's final bands and their spiritual sounds and eschewed the frantic extended improvisations in favor of a more tame and subtle spiritual groove. The results here are stunning.

The majority of the album is made of from a studio session recorded in November of 1970-- Coltrane, heard on harp and piano, is joined by Pharoah Sanders (heard exclusively on soprano sax), Tulsi (playing tamboura, an Indian droning instrument), Cecil McBee (bass), Rashied Ali (drums) and Majid Shabazz (percussion). The pieces are all set up in a deep spiritual groove by the rhythm section (particularly McBee, who really finds a pocket throughout), with an air added to the pieces by the presence of the tamboura. Coltrane's framing, on either piano or harp, is lovely, reminiscent of her works with John Coltrane, and her harp playing has evolved greatly even since "A Monastic Trio" (1968) to become very unique and exciting. Sanders, for his part, solos lyrically and rather restrained, and is far more melodic than he often was at that time. It's difficult to discuss highlights-- the whole thing is utterly superb.

The closing track is a less performance from July of the same year, with Coltrane on harp joined by Sanders (again on soprano) and Ali again, but also joined by Vishnu Wood (on oud) and Charlie Haden (on bass). The sound is remarkably different, with Wood providing the driving rhythmic figures and Sanders soloing even more delicately then he does on the studio track, and it makes for a fitting coda for the record.

I can't really recommend this album enough, it is one of the great spiritual jazz records. It belongs in the collection of anyone interested in this sort of music.

I came to this record rather late in my collecting as I never came across it on LP even though I have most all of the other Alice Coltrane titles on LP. When it came out on CD it was such a great pleasure to experience the blend of eastern influence with beautiful harp playing by Alice and tremendous work of Pharoah Sanders. Definitely Pharoah at his BEST! This is truly the best Alice Coltrane CD and is very well complimented by Ptah El Daoud which I just purchased last week. If you listen to them both long enough, you will ascend to heaven.

Alice Coltrane, made her transition a few days ago... My son, an emerging jazz singer/musician, on the cusp of a career, called from NYC feeling down. I must admit that I hadn't taken time to sit with this news really until now as I listen to Journey to Satchidananda, the title song of the CD along with Something About John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders blowing and breathing vivid rivers of sound through his soprano saxophone. Yes, fervent prayers on saxophone, harp, piano, bass, bells, drum, oud and tambourine!

Memories rush back to being my son's age when this came out. This was the music that kept me engaged in life during a cruel and turbulent time: The decline of the civil rights movement, the murders of Malcolm, Martin, Bobby, the Viet Nam War, Kent and Jackson State etc, etc... our High Tech Dark Age. Today we live with much more of the same with real psychopaths in high places. During that time this was some of the music that kept the lights on for me.

It was Albert Ayer who articulated, "Music is the Healing Force of the Universe." Alice knew this and lived this and touched millions of lives and will touch millions more yet to be born. Through her expansive all embracing sound, she showed us a way to be in the world. Her sound was the sound of LOVE. She wed blues, jazz, spirituals and classical musics with the Vedic traditions. There are ways that she saw the universal truths within many religious & spiritual traditions and could channel that back to us as unified whole in a shimmering sound-scape. India, Africa, Asia, Europe, Jerusalem, Mecca, Harlem-NYC, California... "Be the change you want to see in the world." Journey to Satchidananda was an exquisite example of channeling wisdom & healing through those sacred sounds we call music, pure music. This spirit never dies. This music will always be in my ears. Thank you dear Alice for music as perfect as the center point of silence.

This album to me is the eqivalent in its scope and content to a great religous text. It burns itself into the soul with a haunting unforgettable loveliness. One senses that the musicians on this album are sharing a deep religous experience. You can't help but be swept away on their journey. The listener is travelling with the musicians in a golden ark of sound drifting unerringly towards the eternal. To hear this album is to meditate on the Supreme Reality: That LOVE is what being is all about. To attain to this timeless all-encompassing Love is the unflinching quest of the human heart and this music is therapy in the highest sense in as much as it gives the listener proof positive that God is real. It's deep,deep music and must be respected as well as enjoyed. God has truly blessed these musicians with the opportunity to taste His Love. If you're seeking fulfillment, this album delivers it. It touches the deepest recesses of the soul with blissful peace and love. Thank you Alice and company for a glimpse of your selfless devotion. I can't find words to express my joy and gratitude.

One day I noticed that I listen to Alice Coltrane more than I listen to John. This is interesting because I generally didn't like her playing with the Coltrane group.

This session somehow balances moving group interplay with a truly peaceful, meditative feel. Pharoah Sanders, my favorite sax player, shows his more peaceful side on soprano which is often dismissed by fan and critics.

This one of the most beautiful, most spiritual albums I have ever heard. The spiritual experience is indeed a very personal one, but "Journey" has something very special in it, something universal. Something called "shakti" in hindu, or "ashe" in yoruba spirituality -- otherwise called "the power that is."

I recommend this record only to deep listeners. I don't know how to articulate that any clearer. You know who you are.

I believe this album was recorded around the time she was under Swami Satchidananda's tutelege in India and the lessons learned seem to be very evident in this record.

It is her spirit, not John's, that shines here. John's spirit is referenced, spoken to, on this record. As one of perhaps two jazz harpists in the history of the jazz idiom, she is absolutely stellar. The title track features the Coltrane rolling bassline...he's always there in the work of this album. It swings, cries the blues from the streets of Harlem to the streets of Bombay. I disagree with the "new age" label that is being put to it. It is truly world music in the best sense.

This music has so much in it. So much history.

Just six years before this recording, she faced harsh criticism in the jazz world when she replaced McCoy Tyner in the now legendary Coltrane line-up in the mid-60's. There is her quiet strength in the face of Coltrane's sudden death in 1967. A newly widowed mother of five, she faced all of this in the middle of the turbulent 60's. Note that a year after John passed, MLK was also assasinated. Great, great losses.

Today she only records holy, auspicious music from her ashram.

Her music is an inspiration. If you can dig the atonality of life in its melodic, unflinching beauty, buy this record. Now.

Namaste.

"Journey in Satchidananda" must be one of the most spiritual music albums of all time. The music takes the listener from a deep valley to the highest mountain with its smooth, sweeping rhythms and soothing, infectious melodies played by the master harpist and her stellar musicians.

The harp strings sound as if you are feeling the cool, healing breeze at the top of a mountain.

Highly contemplative by its nature, every tracks in this album are timeless gems that music lover can cherish for a long, long time. However, I must remind you that this album is not for the casual listeners. The real rewards go for those who listen with their inner ears.

The title track alone is enough to justify getting this album. Quiet, reflective, meditative, sure, but the bass vamp is earthy and fits perfectly with the Indian stringed drone. Put it on and life gets better.

I have had the pleasure to experience a variety of music by a variety of artists. This album blew me away when I first heard it, and it never, ever gets old to me. Every time I listen, I hear some new texture, some thread that makes the whole piece sound brand new again.

It's free, but has a groove. It's spiritual, and moving. I love this album.

This is a must for anyone who seriously loves jazz and/or enjoys meditation. I heard Journey recently at a performance of the Alvin Ailey dancers. At the sound of the first few notes and sparkling percussion, I said out loud "Oh my God; that's Alice Coltrane!" It had been over 20 years since I last heard this music. It still takes me to another place.