Alice Coltrane – Universal Consciousness

Round white promo sticker with red text reading “Promotion copy not for resale” top left. Anyone else? Not sure if it came from the label this way or was placed after the fact.

Out of all jazz albums in the 60s and 70s - this very recording is the most unique, most mindexpanding and most transcendent collection of miniature masterpieces ever put to record.

What Alice and her ensemble achieved here is the zenith of musical perfection in terms of spirituality, exploration and liberty.

I return to this album ever so often to find myself lost in its vast soundscapes.

‘Ptah’ and ‘Journey’ might be her most talked about and sought after releases, but it is this album which sets itself apart from the whole ocean of Jazz recordings, not just Alices but the jazz world in general. There is simply no other album like it.

Pro tip: listen at maximum tolerable volume for maximum effect.

This is one of those rare records that’s impossible to clearly categorise, such is its uniqueness. The quality of the sound production and musicianship is astonishing. This is a masterpiece.

Absolutely magnificent album. I can't say that I'm deeply into Free Jazz, so I don't have a lot of experience with other releases in this genre, but Universal Consciousness grabs a hold of me every time I put it on. A friend of mine once described the music on this gem as "played by a band of which the musicians collectively forgot how to play a note and simply decided to make as much damn noise as possible". I understand what he means, but still: there's a profound, slightly mysterious, urgent and fascinating atmosphere hidden in the -seemingly- uncontrolled hammering away of complex compositions. For me, it also "sounds" incredibly seventies, even though the release is from 1971 and the decade still had to unfold. Let me just say that, once you decide to submerge yourself in the music of Universal Consciousness, you'll experience an endless slideshow of unexpected landscapes in your mind; one that begins with track one and ends with the last title. This is one to take in one sitting. You'll feel refreshed afterwards.

From now and forever. Hara Krishna will always clear up my mind.