JOHN & ALICE COLTRANE 'COSMIC MUSIC' 1971 MINT IMPULSE REISSUE REAL, SOARING, FREE JAZZ! 

Cosmic Music Review by Michael G. Nastos

Emphatic, surging, and sometimes unfathomable late-period Coltrane.

John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane – Cosmic Music, Review - Courtesy of Jazz Desk 2018 

John Coltrane and his wife and pianist Alice Coltrane put together Cosmic Music. It features two longer tracks by Coltrane and his sextet with Alice, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Rashied Ali and percussionist Ray Appleton recorded in February 1966. Pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones had just left the band and on the first track ”Manifestation” Coltrane plays his tenor saxophone solo with some of that same intensity which he used on the last recordings with his quartet with Tyner and Jones. The difference is that the new band sounds a lot thinner than the powerful accompaniment that Tyner and Jones provided. On the other hand, it is something different. The quartet had played together for five years and it was maybe time to move on. Pharoah Sanders plays a lively solo on piccolo flute which perhaps works better with what the band is playing.

The other sextet track ”Reverend King” provides a rare chance to hear Coltrane play the bass clarinet. It had been given to him by the parents of Eric Dolphy. The theme is just as serene as the one to the more well-known ”Alabama” but when Sanders and Coltrane start their improvisations the music becomes much more chaotic.

Two new tracks by Alice Coltrane recorded with Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison and drummer Ben Riley ends each side of the album. Riley who had played with Thelonious Monk was a drummer who focused a lot more on steady grooves than Rashied Ali. It instantly gives the music more focus, and even Sanders shrieking on his horn sounds more conventional on Alice’s ”Lord Help Me To Be.” Her ”The Sun” is a lovely blues played with profound feeling by herself and the rhythm section. It fits perfectly at the end of the album after the turmoil of the sextet tracks.

Alice Coltrane released Cosmic Music on her own label Coltrane Records in 1968. It was discovered by Impulse records who convinced her about releasing Coltrane’s and her own music. After they came to an agreement, Impulse reissued Cosmic Music in 1969 with a new cover featuring a photograph of John Coltrane, whereas the original album just had his and Alice’s names on the cover.

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John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane – Cosmic Music

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• Published By – Coltrane Music
• Produced At – Coltrane Records

Credits

• Bass [Bass Violin] – Jimmy Garrison
• Liner Notes – Frank Kofsky
• Percussion – Ben Riley (tracks: A2, B2), Rashied Ali (tracks: A1, B1), Ray Appleton (tracks: A1, B1)
• Piano – Alice Coltrane
• Producer – Bob Thiele
• Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – John Coltrane (tracks: A1, B1)
• Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Pharoah Sanders
• Written-By – Alice Coltrane (tracks: A2, B2), John Coltrane (tracks: A1, B1)

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Barcode and Other Identifiers

• Rights Society: BMI
• Matrix / Runout ((Run-Out Side A / etched [Stamped]): ): AS-9148-A [CRS̶ ̶5̶0̶0̶0̶A] [Bell Sound] LW 11-1-71 TSM
• Matrix / Runout ((Run-Out Side B/ etched [Stamped]): ): AS-9148-A [CRS̶ ̶5̶0̶0̶0̶A] [Bell Sound] LW TSM