Alice Coltrane was once dismissively referred to as “the Yoko Ono of jazz”, having gained fame by marrying her own iconic John. Now, just as Ono is getting the praise she deserves for her art, so Coltrane has been reassessed. A Year of Alice began in February for apparently no reason other than to celebrate the pianist and harpist, and it continues with this rather wonderful first-time release of her 1971 debut at Carnegie Hall.
Held four years after her husband’s death, the concert is in some ways a continuation of his work. Two of the four tunes, Africa and Leo, are by him, the sidemen include his collaborators Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and Jimmy Garrison, and there are two basses and two drummers.
