Free jazz with a harp?
Matt Stephens | USA | 12/30/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"1. Lord, Help Me To Be 7:30
2. The Sun 4:01
3. Ohnedaruth 7:49
4. Gospel Trane 6:44
5. I Want To See You 6:42
6. Lovely Sky Boat 6:51
7. Oceanic Beloved 4:18
8. Atomic Peace 5:53
9. Altruvista 6:55
Alice Coltrane, piano
Pharoah Sanders, tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute
Jimmy Garrison, bass
Ben Riley, drums (1-3)
Rashied Ali, drums (4-8)
This is Alice Coltrane's first album as a leader, made a year after her husband's death. Even though you can tell that she was still developing her own style at this point, it is still a great record. The first 3 songs are especially good, I think; this is probably because of the additon of Pharoah Sanders. Alice is great with a trio, but she had incredible chemistry with Pharoah.
"Lord, Help Me To Be" is just classic. I really like Jimmy Garrison's bass playing on this one. He may not have been as technically developed as other bass players of his time, but he could really swing, which is something that other bass players sometimes lacked. "The Sun" is wonderful, too. It is basically a 4 minute Alice Coltrane solo in free rhythm, colored by bells and sparse bass. Although Pharoah is listed here, he is barely audible, playing flute in the left channel. The drums are very quiet as well. "Ohnedaruth" is a chant that the last John Coltrane group used to perform. It features a rare Pharoah Sanders solo on bass clarinet!
"Gospel Trane" and "I Want To See You," a swinging freebop-ish tune and a ballad, repectively, are cool trio performances with Garrison and Rashied Ali. The next 3 songs are with the same trio, but Alice plays harp on them instead of piano. I love Alice's harp playing on Ptah The El Daoud and especially Journey In Satchidananda, but there is something different about it here. It is freer and looser. I didn't realize until listening to this what a modal instrument the harp is, not to mention beautiful and highly spiritual. The 3 harp songs may be difficult to enjoy at first, but they are very rewarding in time.
"Altruvista" is a solo piano piece that actually came from a session with the John Coltrane quintet. If anyone doubts Alice's virtuosity as a musician, they should hear this. The song seems to be based on wholetone scales, which are very difficult to master, but she runs up and down the keyboard with an amazing facility.
A Monastic Trio may not be as good as Ptah The El Daoud or Journey In Satchidanada, but it is definitely worth buying nevertheless. Check it out!"
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1