Alice ColtraneRadha ­ Krsna Nama SankirtanaReview

Radha ­ Krsna Nama Sankirtana was recorded in August 1976, nine months before Transcendence which could be considered a sister work. It kicks off in similar vein to the second half of the latter with a groovy, gospel influenced, but fairly disposable percussion/choir/organ chantalong. "Ganesha" follows: a delicious, but all too brief (2 mins 44 secs) harp/tamboura duet with Sita Coltrane on the latter instrument. A couple more chants follow.

Then it happens: a duet featuring Alice on organ and her son, Arjuna John Coltrane Jr, on drums. It stretches on for a gorgeous nineteen minutes that stand a mile out in terms of event, exploration, inter-communication. It¹s camouflaged well though: for one thing, its title ("Om Namah Sivaya" sits snugly with the others: "Hare Krishna", "Ganesha", etc; for another it starts off fairly straightforwardly, almost cheesily (I don't know what type of organ it is, but it sounds cheap!) stating the theme a number of times, then launching off into pitchbending improvisation underpinned by much pumping of the bass pedals.

If a burglar stole the first four tracks from this cd in the night, I doubt whether I'd mind, but take that fifth track and I'll be calling the cops. On Illuminations, Alice's 1974 duet album with Carlos Santana there is a gorgeous freakout ("Angel of Sunlight") with Jack de Johnette and Dave Holland that sits like a jewel upon a pillow of gentle, devotional music. Similar case here with Radha: suddenly music that makes you sit up and take notice. For this track alone - recommended.