Traneing In

 

Chasing the Trane today, with the obscure Descendants Of Mike & Phoebe, with the great tenor player Clifford Laconia Jordan and, last but certainly not least, with his talented widow Alice.

The Descendants Of Mike And Phoebe - Coltrane
Clifford Jordan Quartet - John Coltrane
Alice Coltrane - Something About John Coltrane

Crowed For Me

Our famous end-of-year list is nearly ready, but patience please, let's put the old stuff to the test first. 'Cause hell yeah, 2017 sure was a great year for reissues and compilations of all kinds. Here's the top of the iceberg, already starting to melt. Suitcase of Songs artwork by the wonderful Tinca. It's flashback time, my amigos da musica...

1. Lal & Mike Waterson - Bright Phoebus
Lal & Mike Waterson - The Scarecrow
2. Bob Dylan - Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol. 13
3. Neil Young - Hitchhiker
4. v/a - Even A Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock '69 - '73
Ryo Kagawa - Zeni No Kouryouryoku Ni Tsuite
5. Erasmo Carlos - Carlos, Erasmo...
6. Lynn Castle - Rose Colored Corner
7. Grateful Dead - Cornell '77 & Dave's Picks Vol. 24: Live In Berkeley '72
8. Lloyd Parks - Time A Go Dread
LLoyd Parks - Shake Up Yu Dread
9. v/a - Warfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares
10. Alice Coltrane - The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda

Cosmic Cats

It's been a wonderful year for Alice Coltrane reissues, and here's yet one more. The Elements suite originally came out in '73, and found Trane's widow collaborating with Joe Henderson, in what's definitely an uncharacteristic cosmic soundscape for this former bop tenor player. Sounds great - and definitely eastern flavoured - though. Dig in, jazz cats.

Joe Henderson feat. Alice Coltrane - Water

All Aboard

We're going on a trip, jazz cats. Its distict Indian flavour is delightful, and what's more, this musical journey features the mighty Pharoah Sanders on sax. Satchidananda, in case you were wondering, was a famous swami Trane's widow was following at the time on her road to enlightenment.

Alice Coltrane - Journey Into Satchidananda

Hare Om

This just in from the reissue front: The Ecstatic Music Of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, a compilation on the Luaka Bop imprint which focuses on the time Trane's widow - a fine jazz musician in her own right by the way - was part of a California ashram. More raga-flavoured than jazzy, her ecstatic music is probably an acquired taste for most listeners.

Alice Coltrane - Om Shanti