Ptah the El Daoud [Import, Original recording remastered]

Alice Coltrane | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 23, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Universal
• ASIN: B0002T1ZX0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,224 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ptah, the El Daoud

2. Turiya and Ramakrishna

3. Blue Nile

4. Mantra

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A personal favorite., November 25, 2001

By 

greg taylor (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ptah the El Daoud (Audio CD)

Just another person who felt the need to add their voice to the acclaim that the other reviewers have already given this beautiful work. Like most of the other reviewers, I am a looooonnng time jazz listener and collector. Any music collector will tell you that there are certain albums that hit you dead on in all your chakras the first time you hear them. That depth of response sometimes stays with you forever. You never stop loving the experience of hearing that music as it helps you to get thru, to understand, to enjoy new periods in your life. This is one of those albums for me. From the opening notes of Ron Carter's bass walk that starts the album to the final notes, this is music of remarkable beauty, group interplay, and sophistication. There are too many highlights to enumerate, most of the other reviewers have already hit upon them, but I do want to add my voice in favor of the alto flutes played by Henderson and Sanders on Blue Nile. These are not their best solos on the CD. However, the beauty of that range of flute against Ms. Coltrane's harp is unique in my listening experience. Every one of the songs on this album offers pleasures like that, all unique and all worth the price of admission. Read all the other reviewers. Can this many oddballs be wrong? I think not.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like beauty and power never experienced, August 7, 2000

By 

macfawlty "macfawlty" (potomac, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ptah the El Daoud (Audio CD)

You have lived a good life, seen beauty in many forms, and occasionally you feel you have been significantly altered by momentary experiences. Real beauty is deeper than skin and when it hits you, it can be very powerful. You are afraid to grasp to hard for fear of loss. Sometimes my greatest fear as a jazz collector is becoming too familiar with my collection of nearly 3000 albums, mostly LP's with the complementary continuance of the CD format. It's not a big collection, but representative and evolutionary. With this one album, I was afraid to listen too much for fear of it becoming too familiar, but realized that it was probably not possible. This record is what collecting jazz is all about, the momentary experience of true beauty. I have a ton of Trane, had a number of LP's by and with Alice Coltrane, and almost all of Pharoah as well, but this recording, after 20 years of collecting, was like buried treasure. Together with Journey in Satchadanda, which I feel equally passionate about, these are the best Alice has to offer. Listen over and over without fear, but total surrender.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless classic, October 4, 2003

By 

Christopher Farley (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ptah the El Daoud (Audio CD)

I rank Ptah the El Daoud up there with Kind Of Blue and A Love Supreme as perfect modal jazz recordings. This is quite amazing for a record made in 1970, when almost every major figure in the jazz world was going fusion.

Instead of following this trend, Alice Coltrane stuck to her guns and made this astonishing record with horn players Joe Henderson and Pharoah Sanders, bassist Ron Carter, and the underrated drummer Ben Riley.

The two horn players play tenors on two tracks, and alto flutes on a third. (They sit out on a fourth.) The twin-horn attack is rather like a right-brain/left-brain exercize. Henderson's approach is cerebral, while Pharoah Sanders is emotional. Pharoah's playing is surprisingly lyrical and restrained (two words I would never expect to associate with him!).

Alice Coltrane's piano playing is something like a gospel-tinged McCoy Tyner; she lacks some of Tyner's chops, but makes up for it with her overall conception. And unlike Tyner, she is a virtuoso harpist. The one harp/flute track ("Blue Nile") is a standout; it is ethereal, and ferocious all at the same time.

Highly, highly recommended!