Born: Aug 27, 1937 in Detroit, MI
Died: January 12, 2007 in Los Angeles, CA
Genres: Jazz
Styles: Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Jazz
Instruments: Harp, Piano, Organ

Music obviously ran in Alice Coltrane's family; her older brother was bassist Ernie Farrow, who in the '50s and '60s played in the bands of Barry Harris, Stan Getz, Terry Gibbs and especially, Yusef Lateef. Alice McLeod began studying classical music at the age of seven. She attended Detroit's Cass Technical High School with pianist Hugh Lawson and drummer Earl Williams. As a young woman she played in church, and in the bands of such local musicians as Lateef and Kenny Burrell. McLeod traveled to Paris in 1959 to study with Bud Powell. She met John Coltrane while touring and recording with Gibbs around 1962-63; she married the saxophonist in 1965, and joined his band - replacing McCoy Tyner - a year later. Alice stayed with John's band until his death in 1967. Subsequently, she formed her own bands with players such as Pharoah Sanders, Joe Henderson, Frank Lowe, Carlos Ward, Rashied Ali and Jimmy Garrison. Coltrane moved to California in 1972. She became increasingly concerned with spiritual matters, founding a center for the study of Eastern religions in 1975. Since the mid-'70s, Coltrane has performed with decreasing frequency. She did record Transfiguration with Roy Haynes and Reggie Workman in 1978, and in 1987 led a quartet that included her sons in a John Coltrane tribute concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. By most accounts, Alice Coltrane was a fine bebop pianist in her early years. With John Coltrane, on albums like Live at the Village Vanguard Again or Concert in Japan, her playing is characterized by rhythmically ambiguous arpeggios and a pulsing thickness of texture.

- Chris Kelsey (All Music Guide)