Alice Coltrane
1937-2007 pianist, organist, harpist
Alice Coltrane grew up in a family of musicians and received her first classical piano lessons at the age of seven. Her half-brother, Ernie Farrow, was a double bassist who worked with Stan Getz, among others, and who introduced her to jazz.
From 1959, Alice Coltrane lived in Paris and studied classical music and jazz with Bud Powell. In the 1960s she became a guest musician with vibraphonist Terry Gibbs, with whom she made her first recording for the album "Terry Gibbs Plays Jewish Melodies in Jazztime".
She met saxophonist John Coltrane and the two got married in 1965. Since 1965, Alice Coltrane succeeded McCoy Tyner in John Coltrane's quartet, which recorded the highly influential album "A Love Supreme" in 1964. Alice and John Coltrane were equal musical partners until John's death in 1967.
Before his death, John Coltrane introduced her to the spirituality and philosophy that characterize Alice Coltrane's music.
After his death, she continued to play with his musical partners such as Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones and Rashied Ali, but also formed her own ensembles, for example with Charlie Haden and Carlos Santana.
In the early 1970s, she began playing the organ more and released albums such as "A Monastic Trio"(1968), "Ptah, the El Daoud"(1970), and "Astral Meditations"(1966/71) on the "Impulse!" label. She also ensured that John Coltrane's unreleased recordings were also released on "Impulse!". In 1972, she released the album "Universal Consciousness" on which she plays harp and Wurlitzer organ, and which has been on The Wire's list of "100 Records that set the world on fire (while no one was listening)" since 1998.
From the mid-1970s, she recorded four albums with the Warner Brothers label.
From around 1969 she lived in an ashram and founded her own Vendanta center, and from 1980 onwards she released recordings influenced by Indian music, such as the album "Translinear Light"(2004).
Carla Bley
1936-2023 pianist, composer
Carla Bley (1936-2023) was an American pianist and composer. She was born in Oakland and moved to New York in the 1950s. There she worked in a jazz club, where she met the pianist Paul Bley. She initially composed for other musicians before establishing herself as a bandleader. Her works were performed in the 1960s by renowned jazz musicians such as Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell and Art Farmer. Together with Michael Mantler, she founded the Jazz Composer's Orchestra. In the following decades, she led her own bands, including large jazz orchestras and smaller ensembles. She released numerous albums, often on her own label Watt Records, which she founded with Mantler. Her style encompassed various influences, from traditional jazz to experimental elements, and she worked with musicians such as Charlie Haden, Gary Burton, Don Cherry and many more.
From the 1980s onwards, she often performed with bassist Steve Swallow, with whom she was also very close in her private life. She played with him in various formations, from duos to larger ensembles. Bley played concerts into old age and received numerous awards.
Her work made her one of the most important figures in modern jazz, and her influence reached far beyond the jazz scene.