Alice Coltrane - Lord of Lords

AVAILABLE ON NOVEMBER 3RD
SPECIAL GATEFOLD EDITION
180-GRAM VIRGIN VINYL RECORD

Released in 1973, Lord of Lords was Alice Coltrane's final album for the Impulse! label, as well as the last instalment of a trilogy that began with Universal Consciousness and World Galaxy. Like its two predecessors, Lord of Lords features a 16-piece string orchestra that the leader arranged and conducted, fronted by a trio in which she plays piano, Wurlitzer organ, harp, and timpani accompanied by bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Ben Riley.

The original producer, Ed Michel, later stated that Coltrane worked with the top-rank classically-trained studio musicians of the string section and "opened them up so they could do absolutely astonishing things. Afterwards, the string players couldn't believe that they had done what they had done." According to AllMusic reviewer Thom Jurek, "The interplay between the three principals is lively and engaging, based on droning blues chords, and her soloing - even amid flurries of notes - comes right back to the root. Haden's bass is a beautiful anchor here, and the strings offer a lovely response to her organ and harp. Riley's cymbals are shimmering shards of light throughout, ending Lord of Lords on a very high note. She succeeds here, in ending her Impulse! period with elegance, grace, and soul."


Tracklist

SIDE A
1. Andromeda's Suffering
2. Sri Rama Ohnedaruth
3. Excerpts From Igor Stravinsky's: The Firebird

SIDE B
1. Lord of Lords
2. Going Home

Personnel
Alice Coltrane – organ, piano, harp, timpani, percussion
Charlie Haden – bass
Ben Riley – drums

String Ensemble

Violins:
Bernard Kundell
Gerald Vinci
Gordon Marron
James Getzoff
Janice Gower
Leonard Malarsky
Lou Klass
Murray Adler
Nathan Kaproff
Ronald Folsom
Sidney Sharp
William Henderson

Violas:
David Schwartz
Leonard Selic
Marilyn Baker
Myra Kestenbaum
Rollice Dale
Samuel Boghosian

Cellos:
Anne Goodman
Edgar Lustgarten
Jan Kelly
Jerry Kessler
Jesse Ehrlich
Raphael Kramer
Ray Kelley