Alice Coltrane: The Ecstatic Path

Harp, Piano, and the Spiritual Legacy of Alice Coltrane in Jazz and Devotion

De: Garran P. Oakhurst

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Alice Coltrane was more than a pianist, harpist, and widow of John Coltrane—she was a visionary who reshaped the very language of jazz. Alice Coltrane: The Ecstatic Path traces her extraordinary journey from Detroit’s fertile jazz scene to the spiritual sanctuary she built in California, revealing how she fused modal improvisation, gospel roots, Eastern philosophy, and orchestral daring into a body of work unlike any other.

This definitive biography follows her across continents and decades: early gigs in Detroit clubs, her Paris apprenticeship with Terry Gibbs, the transformative years beside John Coltrane in his final ensembles, and the creative flowering that came after his death. It explores groundbreaking albums like Ptah, the El Daoud and Universal Consciousness, as well as her radical embrace of the harp and synthesizer as central instruments. Her founding of the Sai Anantam Ashram and the devotional recordings produced there reveal a woman for whom music was never entertainment but offering—a lifelong discipline of sound as prayer.

Drawing on meticulous research, performance history, and rediscovered recordings, this book shows how Alice’s music anticipated the resurgence of spiritual jazz, influencing contemporary artists from Kamasi Washington to Shabaka Hutchings. Her posthumous chart reentries and archival excavations testify to the enduring power of her vision.

For jazz lovers, spiritual seekers, and anyone fascinated by the fusion of music and devotion, Alice Coltrane: The Ecstatic Path offers an intimate, authoritative portrait of a musician who refused to separate art from spirit. Her ecstatic path continues, guiding new generations toward transcendence through sound.