Category: Jazz

Alice Coltrane :: My Favorite Things

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While her late husband’s 1961 modal rendering helped reinvigorate the Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnut, the orchestral presentation Alice put forth a decade later is a beast of an altogether different stripe. Kicking off Coltrane’s sixth lp, World Galaxy, the instantly recognizable melody quickly dissolves amidst a very free, swirling cacophony of sound….something like the aural equivalent of David Bowman’s star gate sequence. High praise, indeed!

Alice Coltrane :: Live At The Berkeley Community Theater 1972

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This is a bootleg, make no mistake! But however you hear it, you gotta hear it (perhaps over on YouTube?). A major addition to the Alice Coltrane canon, this soundboard recording features the pioneering musician and her incredible band (Charlie Haden on bass, Ben Riley on drums, Aashish Khan on sarod, Pranesh Khan on tabla and Bobby W. on tamboura and percussion) journeying fearlessly across the astral plane. Four tracks, fours sides! Tons of AC’s intense organ hijinks – how did she get that crazy sound?

Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise (Documentary)

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For those interested in the potent alchemy that was the brew of bandleader, philosopher, player and poet, Sun Ra, filmmaker Robert Mugge’s documentary “A Joyful Noise” is essential. Released in 1980, the hour long film captures Sun Ra’s Arkestra performing in Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore, along with behind the scenes footage of the players at rest, rehearsal and in interview.

Stream the film, in its entirety, below.

Deep Into Steve Tibbetts’ Life Of

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On Steve Tibbetts’ Life Of, the new age trappings are gone, the subtle accompaniment of piano, “gong cycles,” gamelan influences (based on his travels and study in Bali and Nepal), the still-in-there-someplace Midwestern Kottke vibes, all synthesized so exquisitely. The secret sauce in his playing is partly due to his instrument; an old Martin D-12-20 12-string with worn down frets and dead strings. He describes it as having a “peculiar internal resonance, as though it has a small concert hall inside of it.”