Universal Consciousness / Lord of Lords

Universal Consciousness and Lord of Lords are simultaneously the densest, most forbidding and artistically rewarding albums that Alice Coltrane cut during the course of her early ‘70s tenure at Impulse Records. Universal Consciousness was recorded only months after the landmark Journey In Satchidananda, a brooding set of modal workouts that remains Coltrane’s best-known and most accessible work, yet Consciousness dispenses with the earthy grooves of Satchidananda entirely and trades them for lofty, free-floating compositions punctuated by seemingly arrhythmic bursts of percussion from Jack DeJohnette and breathtakingly chaotic organ work from Coltrane herself. Lord of Lords by contrast, is an unexpected fusion of Spiritual Jazz and modern Classical music, and was recorded in the wake of what Coltrane describes as a visitation from the spirit of the then recently deceased Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky’s influence can be felt throughout Lord of Lords, particularly in the grandly sinister arrangements for the sixteen-piece string section that accompanies Coltrane and her rhythm section on this outing.