John Coltrane Meditations CD

 Trane's greatest late-period album
Too many people are afraid of John Coltrane's late period of 1965-1967, believing the music is overly harsh and nothing more than aimless noise. But he made plenty of great and challenging music in this period, and "Meditations" is as awe-inspiring as anything he ever recorded. You could say that the music on "Meditations" is a more extreme version of the spiritual quest that Coltrane started on "A Love Supreme" the previous year. Listening to this CD is a cathartic experience and demands your full attention but it is well worth the effort. A few attentive listens will reveal that the music is carefully crafted, with distinct sections and moods, almost like a symphony. Coltrane and fellow tenor saxman Pharoah Sanders' sound is often harsh, but they are in full command of their musical powers, as they explore the nether regions of human emotion through their instruments. And the music is sometimes quiet and touching. The second half begins with a gorgeous bass solo by Jimmy Garrison, and it leads to a lyrical and shimmering solo by Coltrane. In addition, pianist McCoy Tyner delivers two stunning solos; the second is crystalline in its beauty. Like many great artists, Coltrane was always searching for new forms of expression, never content to rest on past successes. "Meditations" is a challenging and monumental result of Coltrane's journey.
Submitted by Jim (San Diego, CA, USA)
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 mystical and dense
the horns sound as if they were intertwining before the universe was born in love and war like two cosmic energies as the explorations of the father son and holy spirit begins. coltrane channels like no man before or since embracing all of it. life and death, beauty and mutation, peace and chaos.
Submitted by a reviewer (lafayette,la)
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