Alice Coltrane

Alice Lucille Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known as Swamini Turiyasangitananda or simply Turiya''', was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader and Hindu spiritual leader.

Coltrane was born Alice Lucille McLeod on August 27, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in a musical household.

Her mother, Anna McLeod, was a member of the choir at her church; her half-brother, Ernest Farrow, became a jazz drummer; and her younger sister, Marilyn McLeod, became a songwriter at Motown.

With the encouragement of her father, Alice McLeod pursued music and started to perform in various clubs around Detroit, until moving to Paris in the late 1950s.

An accomplished pianist and one of the few harpists in the history of jazz, Coltrane recorded many albums as a bandleader, beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s for Impulse! and other record labels.

She studied classical music, and also jazz with Bud Powell in Paris, where she worked as the intermission pianist at the Blue Note Jazz Club in 1960.

It was there that McLeod appeared on French television in a performance with Lucky Thompson, Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke.

She married Kenny "Pancho" Hagood in 1960 and had a daughter with him.

The marriage ended soon after, on account of Hagood's developing heroin addiction, and McLeod was forced to return to Detroit with her daughter.

She continued playing jazz as a professional in Detroit, with her own trio and as a duo with vibraphonist Terry Pollard.

In 1962–63, she played with Terry Gibbs' quartet, during which time she met John Coltrane.

John Coltrane became stepfather to Alice Coltrane's daughter Michelle, and the couple had three children together: John Jr. (1964, a drummer who died in a car accident in 1982); Ravi (b. 1965, a saxophonist); and Oranyan (b. 1967, a DJ).

Oranyan later played saxophone with Santana for a period of time.

Alice and John's growing involvement in spirituality influenced some of John's compositions and projects, such as A Love Supreme.

In 1965, they married in Juárez, Mexico.

She was married to the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, with whom she performed in 1966–1967.

One of the foremost proponents of spiritual jazz, her eclectic music proved influential both within and outside the world of jazz.

In January 1966, Alice Coltrane replaced McCoy Tyner as pianist with John Coltrane's group.

She subsequently recorded with him and continued playing with the band until John's death on July 17, 1967.

After her husband's death, she continued to forward the musical and spiritual vision, and started to release records as a composer and bandleader.

One day, when she was struggling with her health and caring for her young family of four children, there was a knock at the door and to her immense surprise a full-sized Lyon and Healy concert harp was delivered, having been ordered by her husband for her before his unexpected death.

Her first album, A Monastic Trio, was recorded in 1967.

From 1968 to 1977, she released thirteen full-length records.

As the years passed, her musical direction moved further from standard jazz into the more cosmic, spiritual world.

Coltrane's career slowed from the mid 1970s as she became more dedicated to her religious education.

Seeing Coltrane in a state of emotional turmoil and wanting to help, a musical colleague of hers introduced her to the Yoga guru Swami Satchidananda, under whom she would take mantra diksha and study Hinduism during the early 1970s.

During the mid 1970s, she underwent a mystical experience wherein she believed God had initiated her directly into sannyasa, giving her the monastic name Turiyasangitananda, which she translated as "the Transcendental Lord's Highest Song of Bliss."

During the late 1970s to early 1980s, Coltrane would become progressively more influenced by the ecstatic devotionalism of the Sathya Sai Baba movement and ISKCON communities present on the West Coast, incorporating their bhajans into her artistic milieu.

Albums like Universal Consciousness (1971), and World Galaxy (1972), show a progression from a four-piece line-up to a more orchestral approach, with lush string arrangements and cascading harp glissandos.

By 1972, she had abandoned her secular life and moved to California, where she established the Vedantic Center in 1975.

Until 1973, she released music with Impulse! Records, the jazz label for which her husband recorded.

From 1973 to 1978, she released primarily on Warner Bros. Records until she stepped away from the public eye.

After the death of her husband, Coltrane experienced a period of trial.

She suffered from severe weight loss and sleepless nights, as well as hallucinations, which she would later describe as her undergoing tapas (a Sanskrit term for austere spiritual practices).

She founded the Vedantic Center in 1975 and the Shanti Anantam ashram in California in 1983, where she served as spiritual director.

The album Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana (Lit. 'chanting the names of Radha and Krishna') was released by Warner Bros in 1977, featuring gospel-inflected renditions of popular bhajans and mantras within both movements.

She became the spiritual director or guru of the Shanti Anantam Ashram, which the Vedantic Center established in 1983 near Malibu, California.

Alice would perform formal and informal Vedic ceremonies at the ashram and lead them in congregational chanting or kirtan.

She developed original melodies from the traditional chants and started to experiment by including synthesizers, sophisticated song structures and aspects of Gospel music in her compositions.

On July 3, 1994, she rededicated and inaugurated the land as Sai Anantam Ashram. During the 1980s and 1990s, she recorded several albums of Hindu devotional songs before returning to spiritual jazz in the 2000s and releasing her final album Translinear Light in 2004.