Interested if anyone else hear gets off on so called Spiritual Jazz? My favorites are John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Stanley Cowell, and Brother Ah. Many more as well. Current favorite artists include Mathew Halsall, Kamasi Washington, and Shabaka And the Ancestors, among others. As a huge plus, the album art is always way cool, like the very best progressive rock.
Been listening to that new-ish 3CD Brother Ah reissue quite a bit over last month (excellent stuff), and love John and Alice Coltrane, and Pharos Sanders - but definitely on the outside looking in on this scene. Never heard of Stanley Cowell, Mathew Halsall, or Shabaka and the Ancestors - will check them out for sure though. Love Kamasi Washington's stuff (both The Epic and his work with Kendrick) - caught him down in Houston this past December and he put on a great set.
way cool. Cowell, by the way recorded in the late 60s/early 70s so not current. Matthew Halsall def. channels Alice and John. That 3 disc Brother Ah album is amazing! I would love to see Kamasi live. There are so many more that should be mentioned too old and new..
Is there a decent/definitive book out there that covers the genre? My old boss used to rave about the stuff, but he's just straight throw names out with such frequency that I only caught a few. When I've looked it up in the past a lot of the online resources seem to throw way too much under the umbrella - and it seems to be a lot of really well known jazz musicians that don't seem to fit - I know there's a ton of stuff out there to uncover; would love some sort of guide to work my way through. Really I just love out-there jazz, and would love an excuse to pick up a bunch more.
I highly recommend searching BANDCAMP for Spiritual Jazz. Lots of compilations being curated of long out of print vintage primo stuff, and lots of new folks carrying the torch. Here: Tag spiritual jazz | Bandcamp Here is a new one I just found... Time, by emanative
Great topic! Looking forward to what others are discovering. I've only seen the 3CD Brother Ah at Dusty Groove. Who else has it? I need this. I'll just post these photos for now. I've been collecting this whole series of Jazzman compilations on CD. There are 7, so far:
These are all on bandcamp in lossless, or you can order CD etc Brother Ah; Divine Music (3 Album Set), by Brother Ah
Rittor Music Japan have put out some great books focusing Spiritual Jazz (among others). Note that the text is in Japanese, but they're nicely illustrated. This one looks out of print, but I have seen it fairly regularly JAZZ NEXT STANDARD Spiritual Jazz (Japanese Text) vinyl at Juno Records. and also the excellent "Independant Black Jazz of America" book, focusing on labels such as Strata, Nimbus, Black Jazz, Tribe and the other usual suspects. Ken Tsukamoto & Yusuke Ogawa : Independent Black Jazz Of America (paperback) (Book) Be warned - they will cause you to part with your money
After Alice Coltrane the first name that springs to mind is Billy Harper. He's released some wonderful music
Gotta just throw in Sonny Sharrock, Horace Silver, some Herbie Hancock, some Wayne Shorter, and of course, John McLAughlin.
My Record shop guy and I were discussing C/Kosmic Jazz the other day and he cited Astral Travelling by Lonnie Liston Smith as prime example. So is this 'Spiritual' Jazz what might also be 'Cosmic Jazz' or some differentation ? Donald Byrd - Electric Bird is way out there for me. What might that be 'labeled' ? I know very little of Jazz except I don't like Bop but Soul and Funk Jazz are OK with me.
I'm not sure there's an agreed upon definition as to what jazz is 'spiritual' and what isn't- the term is about as useful to me as 'world music' and carries the same patronising odour. But in the spirit of co-operation I'd add this alongside the Billy Harper recordings, it's brilliant music however you slice it. It has soul.
Mary Lou Williams's music became overtly religious in her later years, and although I'm personally not at all interested in her proselytizing she really can play, which is what matters. Well worth checking out.
