Alice Coltrane

The Profile

Alice Coltrane (1937–2007) was an American pianist, harpist, and composer, a central figure in spiritual jazz. She recorded for Impulse! and Warner Bros., performed with and later carried forward the legacy of John Coltrane, and adopted the spiritual name Turiyasangitananda.

Instruments: piano, harp, organ; Collaborations include Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson; Mother of saxophonist Ravi Coltrane; Released Translinear Light in 2004 after a long recording hiatus.

Two reviews spotlight Alice Coltrane’s spiritual jazz: the intense Ptah, the El Daoud with Sanders, Henderson, Carter, and Riley, and the reflective, autumnal Translinear Light featuring Ravi and Oran Coltrane with Haden, Watts, and DeJohnette. The write-ups praise her meditative touch, atmospheric writing, and emotive power, from free-jazz surges to lyrical ballads.