ALICE COLTRANE — Transcendence (review)

ALICE COLTRANE — Transcendence album cover Album · 1977 · Avant-Garde Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Sean Trane
After a three-years silence (if you’ll except the Carlos Santana collaboration), Alice came back with a trio (quartet?) of albums in a rather short lapse of time (two years). I believe than she didn’t keep inactive at all, but was busy sorting out her late husband musical legacy, and issuing many posthumous releases. Most likely she got back tio her own career after setting a plan for a flood of Trane posthumous releases that would finally slow down at the turn of the decade. Anyway, the present is her second or third (second I believe) from that era, and you shouldn’t expect any of the usual suspects that were around for the early-70’s albums. Indeed, unlike the previous Eternity album, not even Charlie Haden is around, and the cast is completely different as well. Indeed Transcendence is recorded in May 77, with a slew of musicians from around the planet.

If the opening Radhe-Shyam returns to the older Alice music scheme (Indian-based) and the following Sanchara is a solo (well almost) harp piece, and the title track is again in the usual (well sort of, it is somewhat modified) Alice terrain, you’d guess that the album is a sort of business-as-usual release. But the flipside is drastically different, oblique-ing into African-soul-type music terrain, with many chants that come from the (then-) third world, none of which is my cup of tea, so I can’t possibly comment much on that side of the vinyl.

As with her other later-70’s album released on the Warner Bros label, it’s better not to expect anything resembling her tremendous earlier works. As long as you’re aware of that, you’ll be able to enjoy the present and others for what they are, and for this one in particular, a world/ethnic fusion music, mostly concentrating on Africana. Not exactly what I expect from Alice, though.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

The Vinny Golia Quintet 2024 : Almasty Avant-Garde Jazz
VINNY GOLIA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Anaconga RnB
CITRUS SUN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Shoot For The Moon Pop/Art Song/Folk
DAVINA AND THE VAGABONDS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Timeless Post-Fusion Contemporary
DAVID BENOIT
Buy this album from MMA partners
Nothing Pop/Art Song/Folk
LOUIS COLE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Songs My Mom Liked EPK - Anthony Branker
ANTHONY BRANKER
js· 3 hours ago
“INFLUENCES” by Jared Hall, trumpeter & composer
JARED HALL
js· 3 hours ago
Jean-Pierre (feat. Darryl Jones)
BILL EVANS (SAX)
snobb· 14 hours ago
Magic Box
CHRISTOPHE MARGUET
snobb· 15 hours ago
The Peacocks
ANTOINE DRYE
js· 20 hours ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed