I sent a personal card to jazz saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, John Coltrane's son. I pray he gets it and reads it and reads the booklet I included, "Are All Religions One?"

Pat Martino

Jazz, baby.

"Infinity"

Often majestic, February 21, 2012 By Douglas Groothuis "Douglas Groothuis" Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Infinity (Audio CD) Somehow, although a Coltrane aficionado (to put it mildly), I had never heard this recording. It may have not been released on CD previously, and I had never seen the album. While only 38-minutes long (which was normal for an LP at the time), this recording brings the widow of John Coltrane back to his recorded music. Alice takes selected solos from her late husband and orchestrates them with strings, organ, harp, and more. The effect is often magical, majestic--although, at times, a bit cluttered. Yet the density is not deadly, but alluring, entrancing. I plan on listening to it many more times. Mrs. Coltrane understood her husband's work. The orchestrations seems to fit the earlier solos, which were recorded with a smaller group. We still hear Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones as supporting musicians. These were members of "the classic quartet" (1960-1965). We also hear from Charlie Haden on bass. While I cannot endorse the references to the philosophy of astrology in some of the music, the music itself stretches the soul in new directions. For this, I am thankful.

I listened to a 1972 release by Alice Coltrane called "Eternity," which was just (I believe) released on CD for the first time. She takes her late husband's solos and adds strings, harp, organ, and more. It is a dense, lush, exhilarating exploration of other realms. It is helping me recover from the 10 seconds of Kenny G that a cultural terrorist inflicted on me yesterday.

Pat Martino, "The Maker"

I just listened to "The Maker" straight through on headphones tonight. What a wonderful set of numbers it is: long-form, plenty of space for group and individual improvisation, fine fidelity, and the inimitable guitar stylings of Pat Martino, whose attack, note choice, and swing are without peer or parallel in jazz.

"It don't mean a thing if it ain't go that swing"--Duke Ellington.