A Monastic Trio

Born Alice McLeod into a musical Detroit family, Alice Coltrane began playing piano at age seven and later studied with Bud Powell in Paris. Upon returning to the States, she joined vibraphonist Terry Gibbs s group and eventually shared a bill with the John Coltrane Quartet. In 1965, the two wed in Juárez, Mexico, and played alongside one another until her husband s last performance in May, 1967. A Monastic Trio, created in the year following her husband s passing, is Coltrane s first recording as a band leader and features six original compositions. While John s spirit can be felt throughout from the song titles ( Ohnedaruth was his adopted Hindu name) to the personnel (Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, and Pharoah Sanders were frequent collaborators) the album showcases Alice s immense talent for fusing spiritual free jazz and new age with classical, Eastern, post-bop and gospel. As the late Amiri Baraka writes, I Want to See You is a monastic piano concerto. With echoes of Europe..., it has a solemnity and majesty to it.... Yes, monastic is the word. The piano broods in its earth imagination.