Alice Coltrane

Bio

Alice Coltrane was an American pianist, organist, harpist, and composer whose work bridged post-bop, free jazz, and spiritual music. Born in Detroit in 1937, she began her professional career in Detroit jazz circles before moving to New York, where she performed with vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and later joined John Coltrane’s quintet in 1965. After John Coltrane’s death in 1967, she led her own groups and released a series of influential albums on Impulse! that incorporated Eastern modalities, gospel, and avant-garde improvisation. In the mid-1970s she founded the Vedantic Center ashram in California, where she continued to compose and record devotional music until her death in 2007.