Kirtan: Turiya Sings

Solo devotional music for voice and Wurlitzer organ. A master pianist and one of the first harpists in jazz, Alice Coltrane performed in John Coltrane's late-era bands (and the two were married from 1965 until his death in 1967), and in the seventies she moved to California, ultimately founding and directing an ashram. This is a reissue of a cassette Coltrane self-released in 1982, and it's also the first album to feature her singing, which she does in Sanskrit here. (The album name refers to her adopted Sanskrit name, Turiyasangitananda.) The cassette also featured synthesizers and strings, but this version is sourced from a mix with no overdubs. Majestic and personal at the same time, mixing elements of Carnatic music, gospel, European classical music, and jazz. Spiritually nourishing. Favorites: 1, 2, 5, 9. No FCCs.

1. *(6:30)—Very slow. Deep organ bass. Calming.
2. *(6:01)—Very slow. Minor key, with a more overt gospel feel.
3. (5:10)—Fluttering high notes, shifting between sunnier and more shadowy modes.
4. (11:43)—Particularly slow to start, between dirge and drone, before gradually picking up speed. Faster, half-spoken singing.
5. *(8:33)—Begins in the same key as track 3, but more glacial. Intense, heartbreaking.
6. (6:32)—Mid-tempo. Call-and-response feel.
7. (5:40)—Long drone in A to start. Chord progression reminds me a bit of 70s prog rock.
8. (7:02)—Slow and evenly paced, heavy.
9. *(4:26)—Shadowy, droning verses paired with jazzier sections.