''A Monastic Trio'' is the first solo album by
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...
. It was recorded in 1968 at the
John Coltrane Home
The John Coltrane Home is a house in the Dix Hills neighborhood of Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, where saxophonist John Coltrane lived from 1964 until his death in 1967. It was in this home that he composed ''A Love Supreme''. ''See a ...
in Dix Hills, New York, and was released later that year by
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positi ...
. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano and harp, and is joined by saxophonist
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
, bassist
Jimmy Garrison
James Emory Garrison (March 3, 1934 – April 7, 1976) was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.
Career
Garrison was raised in both Miami and Philadelphia where he l ...
, and drummer
Rashied Ali
Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.
Biography Early life
Patterson was born and ...
, all of whom were members of
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...
's last quintet. Drummer
Ben Riley
Benjamin Alexander Riley Jr. (July 17, 1933 – November 18, 2017) was an American jazz drummer known for his work with Thelonious Monk, as well as Alice Coltrane, Stan Getz, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ahmad Jamal, and as a member of the group Sp ...
also appears on one track. The album was reissued on CD in 1998 with three additional tracks, one of which is a piano solo recorded in 1967.
The album was intended as a tribute to Alice Coltrane's late husband, John Coltrane, who had died the year before. The liner notes feature the message: "This music is dedicated to the mystic, Ohnedaruth, known as John Coltrane during the period from September 23, 1926 to July 17, 1967." Although Alice Coltrane is credited for producing the album,
Bob Thiele
Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to:
Places
*Mount Bob, New York, United States
*Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica
People, fictional characters, and named animals
*Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
*Bob (surname) ...
oversaw its release. Coltrane later called Thiele "a gentleman, and very professional," and reflected: "I think that, in the memory of John, he wanted to just present everything in the best way possible."
Reception
Initial critical reaction to the album was lukewarm. ''
Jazz Journal
''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund Sc ...
s Barry McRae wrote: "If... this album was intended as a musical epitaph to the late John Coltrane, it does him less than justice," while a ''
DownBeat
' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...
'' reviewer called Coltrane "an artist in the process of becoming," and stated: "piano and harp are unsuitable instruments for transmitting
ohn Coltrane'spassionate utterance."
Recent reviews, however, have been more positive. An
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
writer stated that the album "stands tall in the artist's excellent discography," calling it "one of the landmark debuts in avant-garde jazz."
The authors of ''
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings
''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...
'' praised Sanders' contribution, calling him Coltrane's "most responsive and sympathetic playing companion, occasionally capable... of Trane-like transcendence."
Author
Ashley Kahn
Ashley Kahn is an American music historian, journalist, and producer. Kahn graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
In 2014, Kahn co-authored the autobiography of Carlos Santana, titled ''The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story To Light''. To dat ...
described the album as "a peek at the signature style Alice had been developing while attending to a growing family," and commented: "Echoing the arpeggio-rich approach she eventually taught herself on the harp..., her piano playing had become filled with a loose, lyrical flow."
''Elsewheres
Graham Reid remarked: "This delicious, evocative and sometimes sublime music not only transcends its period but often sounds more contemporary than most of what's out there today."
Author Tammy L. Kernodle noted the presence of "a swinging gospel sensibility" on some of the tracks, and commented: "One only needs to listen to 'Lord Help Me to Be' with the wail of Sanders' horn and the pulsating chords played by Alice under a swinging bass line to understand her musical manifestation of the tormented soul crying out to God from within the chaos of the world and to grasp the emotional, spiritual, and musical connections between her music and that of the Black religious experience."
In an article for the ''
River Cities' Reader
The ''River Cities' Reader'' is an independently owned alternative newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa. The newspaper was founded in 1993 and is circulated throughout the Quad-Cities metropolitan area and outlying communities.
''The Readers format ...
'', Max Allison wrote: "Coltrane carves out her own path here right from the get-go with her stunning piano performances, which wind up and down the keys with restless energy and virtuosic post-bebop dexterity before settling into gorgeous melodies and more wistful atmospheres."
LP track listing
All compositions by Alice Coltrane.
Side A
# "Ohnedaruth" – 7:49
# "Gospel Trane" – 6:44
# "I Want to See You" – 6:42
Side B
# "Lovely Sky Boat" – 6:51
# "Oceanic Beloved" – 4:18
# "Atomic Peace" – 5:53
CD reissue track listing
# "Lord, Help Me to Be" – 7:30
# "The Sun" – 4:01
# "Ohnedaruth" – 7:49
# "Gospel Trane" – 6:44
# "I Want to See You" – 6:42
# "Lovely Sky Boat" – 6:51
# "Oceanic Beloved" – 4:18
# "Atomic Peace" – 5:53
# "Altruvista" – 6:55
* "Altruvista" is an edited version of a piano solo that was recorded on March 7, 1967, at the
Van Gelder Studio
The Van Gelder Studio is a recording studio at 445 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, United States. Following the use of his parents' home at 25 Prospect Avenue, Hackensack, New Jersey, for the original studio, Rudy Van Gelder (1924– ...
in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey during the session that yielded the John Coltrane album ''
Expression
Expression may refer to:
Linguistics
* Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence
* Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning
* Idiom, a type of fixed expression
* Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, o ...
''.
* "Lord, Help Me to Be", "The Sun", and "Ohnedaruth" were recorded on January 29, 1968, at the
John Coltrane Home
The John Coltrane Home is a house in the Dix Hills neighborhood of Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, where saxophonist John Coltrane lived from 1964 until his death in 1967. It was in this home that he composed ''A Love Supreme''. ''See a ...
in Dix Hills, New York. "Lord, Help Me to Be" and "The Sun" were initially released on the 1968 John Coltrane/Alice Coltrane album ''
Cosmic Music
''Cosmic Music'' is a jazz album by John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane released after John Coltrane's death. John Coltrane only plays on two tracks, "Manifestation" and "Reverend King".
Background
In late January 1966, Coltrane and his group, which ...
''. "The Sun" features a spoken introduction by John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders during which they state "May there be peace and love and perfection throughout all creation, O God" three times. (This may have been recorded on February 2, 1966.)
* The remaining tracks were recorded on June 6, 1968, at the John Coltrane Home.
* "Atomic Peace" was misspelled as "Atmic Peace" on the initial release of the album.
Personnel
*
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...
– piano (CD tracks 1-5 & 9), harp (CD tracks 6-8)
*
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
– tenor saxophone (CD track 1), flute (CD track 2), bass clarinet (CD track 3)
*
Jimmy Garrison
James Emory Garrison (March 3, 1934 – April 7, 1976) was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.
Career
Garrison was raised in both Miami and Philadelphia where he l ...
– bass (CD tracks 1-8)
*
Ben Riley
Benjamin Alexander Riley Jr. (July 17, 1933 – November 18, 2017) was an American jazz drummer known for his work with Thelonious Monk, as well as Alice Coltrane, Stan Getz, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ahmad Jamal, and as a member of the group Sp ...
– drums (CD tracks 1–3)
*
Rashied Ali
Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.
Biography Early life
Patterson was born and ...
– drums (CD tracks 4–8)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monastic Trio, A
1968 debut albums
Alice Coltrane albums
Impulse! Records albums
John Coltrane tribute albums
Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio
Albums produced by Alice Coltrane