Setting up for a meeting of the Album Club at Never Ending Books on State Street, organizer and host Dean Andrade said that “I think this album will be kind of a revelation for our regulars.” On Monday night, the club assembled for the 16th time since starting in 2022 to discuss Alice Coltrane’s 1971 album Journey in Satchidananda — the first time, according to Andrade, the group had discussed a jazz album, or anything without lyrics.
The group slowly assembled, with eventually about 15 gathering to eat pistachio cake. The community building element was clear, with casual conversation slowly giving way to an organized icebreaker involving an oversized ball of yarn. “We used to do this when I was a camp counselor,” said one participant.
Journey in Satchidananda, released during a period of furious creativity from harpist, pianist, and organist Alice Coltrane, is in a lot of ways a great initiation for those who’ve never sat with a jazz album. On four of five tracks, Coltrane plays harp, which for many listeners evokes celestial imagery, even in the context with swirling drums, humming tanpura (a stringed instrument from the Indian Classical tradition) and rock-solid bass grooves.
Adam Matlock photo
Album Club.
“When my parents used to listen to jazz, it always used to give me a headache. This album helped me to break that association,” said participant Elise.
Another participant, Juliana Tedeschi, also found her expectations being challenged. “I grew up with what could be called ‘competitive’ jazz players, who were all about it being challenging. I found Alice’s jazz more communal and inviting, like she was taking her ego out of it.”
More than a few listeners were not initially sure what to do with an instrumental album. Multiple people mentioned wanting at first to put it on in the background while doing something else, but that it felt somehow disrespectful. “I was sitting on my fire escape, reading my book and enjoying the sunshine,” Tyff said, “and somewhere around the fourth song the music just completely grabbed my attention. I think I listened four times in a row.” One mentioned that the album made him want to dance — “well, like a broad variety of intentional movement,” he clarified.
Coltrane, a distinguished pianist in her own right before her marriage and musical partnership with saxophonist John Coltrane, only plays piano on one track here. Instead she favors the harp, on which she was an autodidact. Adjectives like “floaty” and “ethereal” are often used to describe her sound on Journey, even as it’s grounded at most times by restrained percussion and solid bass. Her soloing on this instrument is sometimes a cascade of sound in the form of arpeggios and glissandos, and yet it also leaves space for creative interjections from the other players, especially Pharoah Sanders on soprano saxophone. When she switches to piano for “Something about John Coltrane,” the overall frequency of the track feels lower, more grounded — yet the playing still retains a searching, questioning quality.
Many Album Club listeners found themselves wondering about the artist’s mindset while recording. Without lyrics to clue them in, as every other Album Club installment had in the past, some went digging for biographical info or background on how the album was recorded. Nick noted that Solange had listened to Coltrane’s work while recording her 2019 album When I Get Home. Elise felt more prepared for this album having recently engaged with André 3000’s recent New Blue Sun, and the room nodded at the connection.
Looking into Alice Coltrane’s history, Gladys found that the album was recorded around three years after the death of John Coltrane to cancer in 1967. The music itself may not be sorrowful, but grief is very recognizable as an element active at its core. But in spite of that, a majority of listeners agreed that the music was somehow healing, supportive of introspective moods. Two listeners who were familiar with the album before both mentioned that the album had been significant to them while recovering from some past trauma, and one in particular noted that it was more satisfying to return to the album now with some years having elapsed.
Others still were attuned to the spiritual themes, reflected through the song titles and the album’s use of tanpura, oud, and bells. Andrade wondered why the spirituality in this music hit differently than it did in something like Christian rock. The music represents a time during which Coltrane was further exploring Hinduism with her mentor Swami Satchidananda, after whom the album is named. One title refers to Shiva-Loka, the realm of the god Shiva in the Hindu trinity, while another, “Isis and Osiris,” refers to elements in Egyptian mythology. Elements of Coltrane’s Pentecostal music upbringing are present in the music throughout, though never quite at the same ecstatic level that tradition can reach.
Some listeners were just delighted to have the chance to listen to music that was so far before their time. “I’m only 25,” said one participant, “and I don’t usually listen to much stuff from before the 90s.”
As the meeting drew to a close, Andrade polled the participants as to which album the club would pick for its first meeting of 2024 — first by decade (the 1960s won overwhelmingly), then by selecting from three possibilities. The club will discuss Nina Simone’s Pastel Blues in January. The invitation to join is extended to all.
The next Album Club happens on Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. at Never Ending Books, 810 State St. Check Volume Two’s website for full listings.
Excellent choice and interesting conversation among the club members. I love this album! All of Alice Coltrane's releases, as well as Pharoah Sanders releases (particularly Black Unity and Thembi), from this era are some of my very favorite albums to listen to. They were keeping John Coltrane's momentum alive, and adding so much of their own inspired writing and playing.