A rare album of devotional songs by Alice Coltrane, dating back to 1982, is to get a first-time official vinyl release next month.
Turiya Sings was originally released as a cassette at Coltrane’s Ashram, at the Vedantic Center in California. The music was originally based only on the late artist’s Sanskrit vocals and a Wurlitzer organ, and was eventually expanded to incorporate synths, strings and sound effects. An unofficial bootleg vinyl release came out in 2015.
The original recordings, featuring Coltrane’s vocals and the organ, were rediscovered some years ago by Coltrane’s son Ravi, and will now be given their first official outing on vinyl as Kirtan: Turiya Sings by Impulse!/UMe. You can listen to one cut from the release, ‘Krishan Krishna’, above.
"In this setting I felt the greatest sense of her passion, devotion and exaltation in singing these songs in praise of the Supreme," Ravi Coltrane says in a press statement. "In that moment, I knew people needed to hear Turiya Sings in this context."
"As her son, growing up and hearing her playing these songs on the very same Wurlitzer you hear on this recording, I recognise this choice maintains the purity and essence of Alice’s musical and spiritual vision. In many ways, this new clarity brings these chants to an even higher place."
Impulse!/UMe will release Kirtan: Turiya Sings on July 16, 2021.
