It is impossible to overstate the importance of Alice Coltrane to 20th century music. While she sadly passed away in 2007, Coltrane's work as a composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist in the realm of avant-garde jazz, particularly in the zones of free jazz and spiritual jazz, continues to live on—not only through her cherished recordings, but also in the legions of musicians she continues to inspire. One of the most famous artists to take cues from her is Flying Lotus, who is in fact her nephew. The Los Angeles beatmaker and Brainfeeder label founder—real name Steven Ellison—has sampled his aunt (on Cosmogramma's "Drips//Auntie's Harp" as well as Los Angeles' "Comet Course"), and spoken in interviews about the huge significance her work holds for him.
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The greatness of Coltrane's legacy makes it all the more unfortunate that the Agoura Hills Ashram she founded in 1983 is being sold. Realtor.com reports that the Shanti Anantam Ashram—which used to house about 30 visitors at a time to study the Vedic scriptures—is now on the market, split into two 23-acre lots priced at $2.5 million each. According to the website's report, the property's sale comes as a decision of Coltrane's family.Stream the title track from Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders'1971 classic record Journey In Satchidananda below.
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