{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Universal Consciousness | type = Studio album | artist = Alice Coltrane | cover = Universal Consciousness.jpg | alt = | released = September 1971<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yggEAAAAMBAJ&q=coltrane&pg=PA33|title=Billboard|date=11 September 1971}}</ref> | recorded = 6 April – 19 June 1971 | venue = | studio = | genre = {{hlist|Spiritual jazz|avant-garde jazz|free jazz}} | length = 36:40 | label = Impulse! Records | producer = Alice Coltrane, Ed Michel and Brian Konairz | prev_title = Journey in Satchidananda | prev_year = 1971 | next_title = World Galaxy | next_year = 1972 }} '''''Universal Consciousness''''' is the fifth studio album by American jazz musician Alice Coltrane, released in September 1971 on Impulse! Records. The album was recorded from April to June 1971 at A & R Recording in New York City and the Coltrane home studios in Dix Hills, New York.
== Recording and production == ''Universal Consciousness'' was recorded shortly after Coltrane returned from a trip to India,<ref>{{cite book |last=Berkman |first=Franya J. |title=Monument Eternal: The Music of Alice Coltrane |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |year=2010 |pages=79 }}</ref>{{When|date=September 2024}} and was the first album on which she is heard playing the Wurlitzer organ.<ref name="bio_80">{{cite book |last=Berkman |first=Franya J. |title=Monument Eternal: The Music of Alice Coltrane |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |year=2010 |pages=80 }}</ref> In an interview, she related her decision to use the instrument to her interest in Hindustani classical music, comparing its sound to that of the harmonium and tanpura.<ref name="bio_80" /> Her introduction to the organ also marked a turning point in her outlook as a musician; referring to the fact that the instrument has "two or three manuals and complete bass in the pedals," she recalled: "when I began to play the organ, there came the freedom and understanding that I would never have to depend on anyone else musically."<ref>{{cite book |last=Berkman |first=Franya J. |title=Monument Eternal: The Music of Alice Coltrane |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |year=2010 |pages=81 }}</ref>
Coltrane appears on harp and organ, and is joined by bassist Jimmy Garrison; drummers Jack DeJohnette, Rashied Ali, and Clifford Jarvis; and, on three tracks, a quartet of violinists playing parts arranged by Coltrane and transcribed by Ornette Coleman.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |last=Jurek |first=Thom |title=Alice Coltrane: Universal Consciousness |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/universal-consciousness-mw0000219859 |access-date=October 28, 2022 |website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Alice Coltrane - Universal Consciousness |url=https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/album/alice-coltrane/universal-consciousness |access-date=October 28, 2022 |website=Jazz Music Archives}}</ref>
== Releases == The album was originally released by Impulse! Records in 1971. It was the first in a series of three albums (preceding ''World Galaxy'' and ''Lord of Lords'') on which Coltrane appeared with an ensemble of strings.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jurek |first=Thom |title=Alice Coltrane: Lord of Lords |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lord-of-lords-mw0000470434 |access-date=October 28, 2022 |website=AllMusic}}</ref>
In 2011, Impulse! reissued the album, along with ''Lord of Lords'', as part of a compilation titled ''Universal Consciousness/Lord of Lords''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/universal-consciousness-lord-of-lords-mw0002164767 |title=Alice Coltrane: Universal Consciousness/Lord of Lords |first=Thom |last=Jurek |website=AllMusic |access-date=October 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/album/alice-coltrane/universal-consciousness-lord-of-lords(compilation) |title=Alice Coltrane - Universal Consciousness/Lord of Lords |website=Jazz Music Archives |access-date=October 28, 2022}}</ref>
==Reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="allmusic"/> | rev2 = ''DownBeat'' | rev2Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="down beat">Down Beat: February 3, 1972 vol. 39, no. 2.</ref> |rev3 = ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' |rev3score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref name="Penguin">{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=283}}</ref> | rev4 = ''Pitchfork'' | rev4score = 10/10<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/alice-coltrane-universal-consciousness/ |title=Alice Coltrane: Universal Consciousness |website=Pitchfork |date=11 May 2025 |access-date=25 May 2025 |last=Beta |first=Andy }}</ref> | rev5 = The Vinyl District | rev5Score = A+<ref name="vd">{{cite web |url=https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2021/08/graded-on-a-curve-alice-coltrane-universal-consciousness-2 |title=Graded on a Curve: Alice Coltrane, Universal Consciousness |first=Joseph |last=Neff |date=August 27, 2021 |website=The Vinyl District |access-date=October 28, 2022}}</ref> }} In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "This is art of the highest order, conceived by a brilliant mind, poetically presented in exquisite collaboration by divinely inspired musicians and humbly offered as a gift to listeners. It is a true masterpiece".<ref name="allmusic"/>
The authors of ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' called the album "perhaps her finest achievement on record," and described her harp and organ playing as "superlative." They stated: "the personnels reflect quite distinct musical approaches and Alice Coltrane's conviction that every piece of music had its own sufficient orchestra."<ref name="Penguin" />
Bill Shoemaker of ''Jazz Times'' described ''Universal Consciousness'' as "an enduring album and arguably Alice Coltrane's masterpiece," calling her debut on organ "stunning," and noting how the instrument "accentuates the Bud Powell-inspired chops" and "immaculate articulation."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jazztimes.com/archives/alice-coltrane-universal-consciousness |title=Alice Coltrane: Universal Consciousness |first=Bill |last=Shoemaker |date=September 1, 2002 |website=Jazz Times |access-date=October 28, 2022}}</ref>
Matthew Fiander of ''PopMatters'' commented: "The album is a beautiful, if challenging, sound, one that seems to carry all of Alice Coltrane’s musical interests and her devotion to faith and to her husband's memory, and the results are jarring but joyous."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/145302-alice-coltrane-universal-consciousnesslord-of-lords-2495981299.html |title=Alice Coltrane: Universal Consciousness/Lord of Lords |first=Matthew |last=Fiander |date=July 26, 2011 |website=PopMatters |access-date=October 28, 2022}}</ref>
The Vinyl District's Joseph Neff called the album "a truly extraordinary record," and praised its "assurance, lucidity, and mastery of scale and instrumentation." He noted that the omission of horns is more than outweighed by the presence of "an exceptional band," and by the "spaced-out edginess of Coltrane's organ."<ref name="vd" />
''Fact'' listed the album as the third greatest of the 1970s with Drummer and contributor Eli Keszler citing it as a major influence and commenting: "She managed to merge the zeitgeist into one swelling ball of energy – fusing modal jazz, ecstatic rituals, electronics, eastern influence, multi-directional rhythms and studio experimentation with avant-garde western classical..".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Twells |first=Chris Kelly, Tom Lea, Joe Muggs, Joseph Morpurgo, Mr Beatnick, Chal Ravens, John |date=2014-07-14 |title=The 100 Best Albums Of The 1970s |url=https://www.factmag.com/2014/07/14/the-100-best-albums-of-the-1970s/ |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Fact Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Track listing == #"Universal Consciousness" – 5:06 #"Battle at Armageddon" – 7:20 #"O Allah" – 5:00 #"Hare Krishna" – 8:14 #"Sita Ram" – 4:47 #"The Ankh of Amen-Ra" – 6:09
== Personnel == * Alice Coltrane – harp, organ * Jimmy Garrison – double bass (1, 3, 4, 5) * Jack DeJohnette – drums (1, 3, 4) * Clifford Jarvis – drums (4, 5), percussion (4) * Rashied Ali – drums (2, 6), wind chimes (6) * Tulsi – tanpura (4, 5) * John Blair, Julius Brand, Leroy Jenkins, Joan Kalisch – violin (1, 3, 4)
String arrangements on tracks 1, 3 and 4 by Coltrane. Tracks 4 and 5 arranged by Coltrane. Transcriptions on tracks 1, 3 and 4 by Ornette Coleman.
Produced by Alice Coltrane, Ed Michel and Brian Konairz.<ref name="allmusic" /> Engineers at Dix Hills were W. Barneke and Roy Musgnug. Engineer at A&R Recording was Tony May. Mixed by Tony May and Ed Michel. == Charts ==
{| class="wikitable" ! Chart (1971) ! Peak<br />position |- | US ''Billboard'' Top LPs<ref name="Whitburn">{{cite book | last = Whitburn | first = Joel | title = Top LPs, 1955–1996 | year = 1996 | publisher = Record Research | page = 34 | url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstoplp00whit/page/52/mode/2up | access-date = 2025-07-10}}</ref> | align="center"|190 |- |} ==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * The Wire's[https://web.archive.org/web/20070613182618/http://www.rtxarchive.com/archive/articles/wire175.html ''100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)''] * [https://www.alicecoltrane.com/discography ''Alice Coltrane Discography'']
{{Alice Coltrane}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1971 albums Category:Alice Coltrane albums Category:Albums produced by Alice Coltrane Category:Albums produced by Ed Michel