Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda: Hear Our Podcast Feature

Alice Coltrane enjoyed the mid-Sixties in both personal and musical bliss. John Coltrane started a family with her and she toured the globe as his pianist. John passed away suddenly from liver cancer in July 1967. With four young children to care for, she was newly widowed at 29 and plunged into long periods of despair. A friend of hers introduced her to Swami Satchidananda. This man had been a Woodstock opening speaker and has helped thousands of people. With a new clarity — and a harp that John had commissioned for her before his death — she entered the basement studio of her Long Island home and recorded a tribute to Satchidananda.

Featuring other former members of John’s band, the resulting album combined free-form jazz with the textures of Indian raga and shades of Alice’s roots playing gospel in the churches of Detroit. This album was published a little over a century ago. Satchidananda is your destinationIt Alice would be a musical icon herself, and she would inspire everyone from Radiohead through Solange Knowles. Our latest episode is available on our Amazon Original podcast Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums retraces the entire arc of this remarkable record: Senior Editor Hank Shteamer steps into the Long Island basement where the album was recorded, and speaks to several musicians who played on it (bassist Cecil McBee, tambura player Tulsi Reynolds, and oud player Vishnu Wood) as well as Alice’s daughter, Michelle. We also hear from musicians who have drawn inspiration from Alice — including Flying Lotus, the grandson of Alice’s sister, and harpist Brandee Younger — and hear archival interviews with Alice herself, delving into the remarkable story of a woman who crafted something beautiful and enduring in the time of her deepest pain.

2003Rolling Stonepublished its definitive countdown of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the most popular and most argued-over list in the magazine’s history. We completely remade this list in 2020, adding over 150 titles. Amazon Original PodcastRolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums, we’re delving further into the making and meaning of many of the records that made the cut, with exclusive insights from the artists who created them — and those who know them and their music best.

Brittany Spanos hosted the eventRolling Stone’s 500 Greatest AlbumsAppearanceExclusively on Amazon MusicEach week, a new episode will be added to the site. You can check out theSatchidananda is your destinationepisode above.

Latest News

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here