beautiful slideshow of Alice (and some John!)
I first discovered Alice from a song by Rosie Tucker, “Ambrosia”:
Ducking out a cool rain
listening to Coltrane,
I grew up the place where she died.
I only knew one Coltrane at the time, John—and so, interest piqued by the unexpected pronoun, I googled around and found Alice. The more I’ve learned about Alice, the more obsessed with her I’ve become.
Like me (until a few years ago), you may’ve never heard of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. Though dwarfed in fame by her short-lived husband (he died in 1967, only two years into their marriage), she matched his saxophone in her own skills: as a pianist, organist, harpist and vocalist. Her prodigy on harp is something that immediately drew me to her—she’s one of only a few jazz harpists. She was born in Detroit in 1937, and died in Los Angeles in 2007.
Alice played piano in the Coltrane quartet, and she and John had four children together. They both became interested in Hinduism, and that trajectory can be traced in their children’s names: first Michelle, John Jr., and then Ravi and Oran.
Alice met a guru, Swami Satchidananda, in 1970, and converted to Hinduism. She took the (octosyllabic!) name Turiyasangitananda, and wrote the album Journey into Satchidananda in 1971. She started an ashram in the Santa Monica mountains, saying:
…One of the directives given to me was to start the ashram. I felt I could serve in any way that God wished. Whatever was ordered, I would have been happy to follow. My idea was to have the availability to seek the Lord, to be able to study spiritual scriptures, and to really immerse myself in living the spiritual life as much as possible…
John Coltrane was a legend of jazz, that’s not in dispute. His hometown happens to be Hamlet, NC, only a few hours from where I grew up. [Riffing on Tucker: I grew up the place he grew up. Catchy, huh?] You only have to listen to “Blue Train” or “Equinox” to board the Col-train (sorry, that’s so corny, but I must).
Still, it baffles me that so few people have heard of his wife, who outlived him by four decades, was a master of harp and piano, became a Hindu swamini, and, let’s face it, was a woman. I know this is peak identity politics: but given that jazz is and has been a male-dominated genre, we ought to celebrate and fight for the representation of women jazzists. How many women jazz musicians, who aren’t exclusively vocalists, can you name? I have a lot of lovely lady friends that play jazz (shouts to April, Ann, and Gabby), but I can only name two famous female jazz instrumentalists. As a fellow jazz musician on an unconventional instrument (I play violin), I relate very much to Alice, and find such comfort and inspiration in her.
this is no full biography. I encourage you to learn more about Turiyasangitananda: she was a musical genius and a fascinating woman.
next week’s microstory will be for paid subscribers only, you have been advised >:)
Such an amazing artist!
I meant to thank you for this fascinating article! She was amazing and I love her music, but I had never heard of her.