Transcendence

Transcendence is an album by Alice Coltrane, recorded in California in May 1977, and released later that year by Sepia Tone Records. On the album, Coltrane is heard in a variety of instrumental combinations. "Vrindavana" is a solo track, while on "Radhe-Shyam" and "Transcendence", Coltrane appears on harp accompanied by a string ensemble. The remaining tracks are among the earliest examples of her use of Hindu devotional hymns called bhajans, and feature Coltrane on keyboards joined by large groups of singers who also clap and play hand instruments. Critical reception In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "the vision on display here is not so much a grand musical one as it is an intensely focused spiritual one... it makes for a challenging but thoroughly engaging listen, wherein moods, modes, ambiences, and densities are offered as meditative spaces for the listener... Transcendence is another chapter in a body of work by Ms. Coltrane that was not generally understood until the 21st century, where it received the acclaim it so richly deserved. As time passes, it may actually be instructive to a new generation of musicians and listeners -- a love supreme indeed." The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings called the album "deeply personal and profoundly felt, but hard to contextualize" within a jazz framework.