Alice Coltrane, widow of saxophonist John Coltrane, died on Friday, January 12^th at he West Hills Hospital near L.A., California. Her death was related to respiratory failure of some kind. She was 69 years of age.

Born Alice McLeod in Detroit, Michigan, Mrs. Coltrane studied classical piano and played organ in local churches. After some club gigs around Detroit, she left for New York City, where she was working with Terry Gibbs when she first met John Coltrane. Alice was the last pianist to work with Coltrane during this final phase of his career, from 1966 until his death in July, 1967. Mrs. Coltrane played not only piano, but also organ and harp, and recorded several albums after John’s death that are gems of the period and which explore areas that John had been in the beginning stages of exploring at the time of his death. Some of the avenues and suggestions that seem to arise from both John’s later work and Alice’s work as a leader have still not been thoroughly explored by jazz musicians to this day.

Mrs. Coltrane took a long time away from the music and recording world, founding an ashram, the Vedantic Center (now known as the Sai Anantam Ashram), where she led students in devotional studies. For her, as for her late husband, music was a highly spiritual undertaking.

In 2004 Alice Coltrane released Transliner Light, her first studio album in 27 years. It was a wonderful album, full of deeply spiritual playing that was also highlighted by the participation of sons Ravi and Oran. In addition to her sons, Alice is also survived by her daughter, Michelle, with whom she founded the John Coltrane Foundation to award scholarships to promising young musicians.

Listening again to Translinear Light, I am struck by the way that Alice Coltrane weaves together Eastern drones, American gospel, swinging jazz, free jazz, and gorgeous ballads into a performance that is celebratory and joyous. Accompanied by musicians as talented and varied as Jack DeJohnette, James Genus, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Charlie Haden, Alice is able to put her many influences into a frame of reference that is at once familiar and yet also fresh. All listeners should be glad that Alice got the opportunity to record this final musical statement, one of the defining performances of her career. The world is definitely a poorer place without her.

An Elevation Service for Mrs. Coltrane (aka Turiyasangitananda) will be held at the Sai Anantam Ashram Center on Saturday, January 27^th at 1 PM PST. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the following organizations:

John Coltrane Foundation (http://JohnColtrane.com/) --click on Donation under ‘Scholarship’

Musicares Foundation (http://www.grammy.com/musicares)

Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org/donation)

Yogaville Ashram (http://www.supportyogaville.org)