Translinear Light

Alice Coltrane

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 28, 2004)
• Original Release Date: September 28, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Impulse Records
• ASIN: B0002SLWZM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #99,867 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The Detroit-born Alice Coltrane was John Coltrane's last pianist. Now, nearly 40 years after his passing, she's released a studio recording that continues her husband's investigations of Eastern and Indian music. Drummers Jack DeJohnette and Jeff "Tain" Watts and bassists Charlie Haden and James Genus provide the Traneish tempos, while Coltrane's sons Ravi (tenor, soprano) and Oran (alto) offer coloration on horns. Mrs. Coltrane's complex piano forays are complemented by her otherworldly Wurlitzer organ and synthesizer effects. Along with new compositions like the title track, she delivers new versions of her own works, such as "Blue Nile" and "Sita Ram" (from Ptah the El Dahoud and Universal Consciousness respectively), as well as her husband's classic, "Crescent." Her reverent readings of the African-American spirituals "Walk With Me" and "This Train" prove how deftly she can combine the oldest music in the world with the newest. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth waiting for, September 30, 2004

By	D.D. "Dandylander" (Somerset, KY. USA) - See all my reviews

Those of us who are deeply grateful to Ms. Coltrane for the depth and sincerity of her music will listen to her newest work with great joy. I disagree with the other reviewer, whom I suspect would always prefer the more agitated aspect of her late husband's work over the serenity that Ms. Coltrane offers here. For shame dismissing the deeply felt and soulful melody of "The Hymn" as "new age" music! There are few living composers (or performers) who merit comparison with Ms. Coltrane, and this recording is no exception. She has a reason for playing "Leo" and "Blue Nile" on this record and if you will take the time to both think and feel, you will discover the meaning. It is very beautiful and it has nothing to do with anything so trite as measuring up to the past. If you know and love her work you will be very pleased to hear these meditative and beautiful compositions. As to Alice, her love is supreme.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She still has it, January 23, 2005

By	Matt Stephens (USA) - See all my reviews

1.   Sita Ram 6:08
2.   Walk With Me 7:50
3. Translinear Light 9:50
4. Jagadishwar 5:47
5. This Train 6:06
6.  The Hymn 3:04
7. Blue Nile 8:05
8. Crescent 6:22
9. Leo 9:40
10. Triloka 5:08
11. Satya Sai Isha 5:40

Alice Coltrane, piano, Wurlitzer organ, synthesizer
Ravi Coltrane, tenor & soprano sax (3, 4, 7, 8, 9)
Oran Coltrane, alto sax (6)
Charlie Haden, bass (3, 5, 8, 10)
James Genus, bass (2, 4, 7)
Jack DeJohnette, drums (1, 3, 5, 8, 9)
Jeff "Tain" Watts, drums (2, 4, 7)

As you've probably heard, this is Alice's first album in 26 years. It has been called "comeback album of the year" by JazzTimes magazine, and is being hailed by many jazz critics as one of her best works. But how many comeback albums really come out each year? You can't measure a record by how long it's been since the artist last put out a release. However, that being said, Translinear Light is still a very good album. Alice plays some great renditions of old songs that her and her late husband used to play, including Crescent and Leo. She also plays a couple of songs from her classic early '70s albums. Most of the new material here is good, too. One of my favorite songs on the album is the title track, which starts as a ballad before moving on to an edgy, funky, latin-type thing. The old spirituals she performs ("Walk With Me" and "This Train") are wonderful. They fit right into the type of thing she does. But I didn't really care for the tracks on which she plays synthesizer, "Jagadiswar" and "The Hymn." I know that Alice has never been a new age artist, but "Jagadishwar" sure sounds like new age to me. I'm not saying that it's not good; I just didn't expect to hear it when I bought the album. But that's why they put a "skip" button on stereos. "The Hymn" is a duet with her son Oran on alto sax. Other than those two songs (which are short), Translinear Light is a good record. The last track, "Satya Sai Isha," is amazing. It is a chant led by the singers of Alice's monastery, accompanied only by Alice on Wurlitzer organ.

The thing that disappointed me the most about this record was the production. It was treated more like a smooth jazz album than an Alice Coltrane album. Everything sounds too glossed over and perfect. A lot of people will probably like that, but most of what I listen to is from the 60s and 70s, which was before the technology became so advanced to make a more "perfect" recording. To me it was sort of a shock because I barely ever listen to newer recordings. But to the individual listener, it's just a matter of what type of stuff one generally buys.

Overall, Translinear Light is a respectable album by one of the greatest and most unique musicians ever. Alice has a voice that is all her own. If you are a true fan of her work, you won't be disappointed by the music.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coltrane's Sound Again, October 1, 2006

By	cvairag (Allan Hancock College) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

There are a number of remarkable aspects of Alice Coltrane's first recording after a 26-year hiatus. First, how beautiful and vibrant she looks at sixty-seven, amazingly, better with maturity, than she ever appeared, to my eye at least, in her youth, in her thirties and forties! And of course the playing, which is, as would be expected, extraordinary. What I did not quite expect was how Trane's inimitable, multi-faceted sound reincarnates through the incredible playing of their two sons Ravi (tenor) and Oran (alto). I must admit, there was one section, reminiscent of the track Naima from a late sixties set released as "Live at the Village Vanguard Again", with Alice on piano, that brought tears to my eyes. The way the echoes from the past interplay with the present is really one of the finest elements in the recording. The preference here is for the moody and the contemplative Trane, rather than the free, often frenetic outside playing which characterized the Coltrane family's recordings of the late sixties and early seventies. One remembers that few played a ballad as beautifully as Trane, and that energy is reflected here, and seems more appropriate to these times. Archie Shepp once told me: "Never stop listening to Trane." Now, over a quarter century later, I find myself enthralled by the Coltrane sound once again. A family which always knew the difference between good and great. An instant classic!