Alice Coltrane
Universal Consciousness/Lord Of Lords
Impulse! Records
www.umusic.com
By George W. Harris

Get ready, because Impuse! Is reissuing a Mother Lode of 2 for 1ers the next month or so. This coupling by Alice Coltrane is the first of many. These recordings from 1971 and 72 mixing Eastern and Western sounds, just as she was doing with her religious beliefs. Here, there are strings (most notably by violinist Leroy Jenkins), drums by Jack DeJohnette, Rashied Ali and Clifford Jarvis, bass by Jimmy Garrison, and everything but the kitchen sink by Mrs. Coltrane. These two discs are part of a sojourning triology, with Universal being a bit more percussive, and Lords being quite heavy on strings.

I have truly tried to appreciate this music, but the swirling strings, harp, keyboards and what have you just don’t seem to coalesce into anything other than moody sounds. I see no skies opening, no epiphanies, no revelations, and no real exciting musical moments. Some sound like background for an Asian travelogue, but that’s about all I can recommend this for. Something got lost in the 40 years of enlightenment.