ALICE COLTRANE With Strings: WORLD GALAXY LP Gatefold EX to NM/VG PETER MAX cvr

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37

AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek  [-]

Alice Coltrane had become a musical world unto herself by the time she issued World Galaxy, recorded in late 1971. With jazz-rock fusion taking over the mainstream and the terminal avant-garde heading over to Europe, Coltrane stubbornly forged an insistent, ever-evolving brand of spiritual jazz that bore her own signature as much as it did her late husband's influence. On the two days in November when World Galaxy was recorded, Coltrane chose drummer Ben Riley, bassist Reggie Workman, violinist Leroy Jenkins, saxophonist Frank Lowe, and timpanist Elayne Jones in addition to a string orchestra of 16 to help her realize her latest vision. Coltrane herself plays piano, harp, and organ on this date, sometimes within a single track, as she does on her glorious post-modal reworking of "My Favorite Things." This was a gutsy move, considering it was one of John Coltrane's signature tunes, but Alice has it firmly in hand as she moves from organ to harp to piano and back, turning the melody inside out wide enough for the strings to whip up an atmospheric texture that simultaneously evokes heaven and hell and skewers the prissy nature of the tune in favor of bent polyharmonics that allow the entire world of sound inside to play. The jazz modalism Coltrane presents on "Galaxy Around Olodumare" is quickly undone by Lowe in his solo and reconstructed into polyphony by the string section; it's remarkable. The harp work on "Galaxy in Turiya" (Alice's religious name) is among her most beautiful, creating her own wash of color and dynamic for the strings to fall like water from the sky into her mix. As colors shift and change, the rhythm section responds, and focuses them in the prism of Coltrane's textured harpistry. The album closes with another John Coltrane signature, "A Love Supreme," here given an out of this world treatment by the band with Jenkins playing full force through the middle of both channels. There is a narration by Coltrane's guru inside it, a poem really, spoken by the great guru Satchidananda, which no doubt would have moved John Coltrane, but the real news is Alice's killer, funky breakbeat organ solo that covers the tune top to bottom in blues, in stark contrast to Jenkins' improvisation. This set may take some getting used to for some, but it's easily one of the strongest records Alice Coltrane ever released, and one of the finest moments in jazz from the early '70s.

Alice Coltrane With Strings ?– World Galaxy

Label:

Impulse! ?– AS-9218, ABC Records ?– AS-9218

Format:

Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Gatefold

Country:

US

Released:

1972

Genre:

Jazz

Style:

Free Jazz, Soul-Jazz

TracklistHide Credits

A1 My Favorite Things

Composed By – Rogers-Hammerstein*

6:22

A2 Galaxy Around Olodumare

Composed By – Alice Coltrane

4:15

A3 Galaxy In Turiya

Composed By – Alice Coltrane

9:55

B1 Galaxy In Satchidananda

Composed By – Alice Coltrane

10:25

B2 A Love Supreme

Composed By – John Coltrane

9:58

Companies, etc.

Made By – ABC Records, Inc.

Published By – Williamson Music

Published By – Jowcol Music

Recorded At – Record Plant, N.Y.C.

Mixed At – The Village Recorder

Phonographic Copyright (p) – ABC Records, Inc.

Copyright (c) – ABC Records, Inc.

Credits

Arranged By, Orchestrated By, Piano, Organ, Harp, Tambura [Tamboura], Percussion, Producer – Alice Coltrane

Bass – Reggie Workman

Concertmaster – David Sackson

Cover, Design – Peter Max (2)

Drums, Percussion – Ben Riley

Engineer [Assistant] – Dan Turbeville*, Dennis Ferrante

Mixed By – Baker Bigsby

Narrator – Swami Satchidananda (tracks: B1, B2)

Photography By – Philip Melnick

Producer – Ed Michel

Recorded By – Tom Flye

Strings – Alan Shulman, Arthur Aaron, Avron Coleman, Edward Green*, Harry Glickman, Henry Aaron, Irving Spice, Janet Hill, Joan Kalisch, Julien Barber, Ronald Lipscomb, Seymour Miroff*, Thomas Nickerson, William Stone

Strings, Violin, Soloist – LeRoy Jenkins (tracks: B2)

Tenor Saxophone, Percussion, Soprano Saxophone – Frank Lowe

Timpani [Tympani] – Elayne Jones

GOLDMINE GRADING

MINT ---- It should appear to be perfect. No scuffs or scratches, blotches or stains, labels or writing, tears or splits. Mint means perfect.

NEAR MINT ---- Otherwise mint but has one or two tiny inconsequential flaws that do not affect play. Covers should be close to perfect with minor signs of wear or age just becoming evident: slight ring-wear, minor denting to a corner, or writing on the cover should all be noted properly.

VERY GOOD PLUS ---- The record has been handled and played infrequently or very carefully. Not too far from perfect. On a disc, there may be light paper scuffs from sliding in and out of a sleeve or the vinyl or some of the original luster may be lost. A slight scratch that did not affect play would be acceptably VG+ for most collectors.

VERY GOOD ---- Record displays visible signs of handling and playing, such as loss of vinyl luster, light surface scratches, groove wear and spindle trails. Some audible surface noise, but should not overwhelm the musical experience. Usually a cover is VG when one or two of these problems are evident: ring wear, seam splits, bent corners, loss of gloss, stains, etc.

GOOD ---- Well played with little luster and significant surface noise. Despite defects, record should still play all the way through without skipping. Several cover flaws will be apparent, but should not obliterate the artwork.

POOR ---- Any record or cover that does not qualify for the above "Good" grading should be seen as Poor. Several cover flaws.