Higher Love

Kate Molleson and Kevin Le Gendre explore John and Alice’s powerful yet shortlived partnership.

Coltrane is a name that you’re likely to have heard, even if you know little to nothing about jazz. More than half a century after his death, saxophonist and composer John Coltrane is hailed as a giant of American cultural history, and one of 20th-century music’s greatest visionaries. But he’s not the only Coltrane. His wife, Alice, was an accomplished keyboardist and harpist who made revolutionary music in her own right, and whose contribution to John’s late output has not always been fully recognised. As soulmates and fellow seekers in sound, John and Alice both transcended cultural and genre boundaries, helping to pioneer avant-garde and spiritual jazz. But following John’s premature death in 1967, Alice began her solo career and would take forward their journey of creative and religious expansion. All this week, Kate Molleson is joined by journalist and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre to dive into the lives and music of these monumental figures, and explore their contributions to the jazz world and beyond.

Today, our composers meet at last. Kevin and Kate discuss the significance of John and Alice’s family home, where John composed his masterwork A Love Supreme, and the music that they made together in his final years.

Music featured:
Bessie’s Blues (from Crescent)
Terry Gibbs: Sherry Bossa Nova (from Plays Terry Gibbs feat. Alice McLeod)
Ogunde (from Expression)
A Love Supreme, Pts 1 and 2 (from A Love Supreme)
Expression (from Expression)
Dear Lord (from Transition)

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West