UNIVERSAL CONCIOUSNESS [Original recording remastered]

So here we are, with a newly remastered edition of Universal Consciousness. . hum, and kind of surprising too. I was about ready to burn a copy from that old beat up record I mentioned above. It took a long time for Impulse to finally get this re-released, and I'm considerably satisfied.

The music itself is one of a kind. Ornette Coleman must have had a fun time transcribing the string arrangements, as mention in the notes. The first time you put this on the listener will want to turn it off, yes I know it sounds like a dis but it's not. This music is not happy-go-lucky, laid back Kerouac at the typewriter music. This is intense listening, made for people who turn on the college stations noise hour and listen to Merzbah. The first time I heard it I couldn't handle it, especially the first track. Now, after many listens, I can play the album while reading a book, or at the typewriter. Not for casual listeners but if you are this album may eventually grow on you.

The remastered CD sounds similar to the record but much brighter. To elaborate on that, as a CD it works well. I can here some things that I didn't hear on the record (like that tinny reggae drum in the first half of "Universal Consciousness") and on some tracks the compositional tone is well rounded out ---plus no crackles and skips. In short, the CD remastering beats me recording and filtering/dehissing my record on Roxio. Plus the production job is pure mastery.

My only complaint is the packaging. I prefer the standardized Impulse cardboard cases, the ones with the gatefold/ insert sleeve and annotated or biography booklet. The package here is (as mentioned by another reviewer) a miniscule version of the original record sleeve which includes a very cool poster, but barely readable liner notes. In addition, it would be impossible to slide it into a standard CD slot since it is bigger than the usual CD jewel case. I understand that this is a unique idea but isn't it more susceptible to wear and tear. Consider this a limited edition as the tagline says.

Music Listeners, give this a try. Like I said it's intense but soon you'll enjoy it. If you like these recordings also check out Ornette Coleman's Skies of America, which has similar string arrangements and time signatures. An abstract masterpiece.

But after listening to this music and reading Alice's original liner notes, I'm inclined to think of her as a greater influence on Coltrane than vice versa. Hers is the theological mind, steeped in Hinduism and Indian mythology to a degree that makes John along with Lennon, T. S. Eliot, and perhaps Ravi himself look like tyros. Her descriptions of these compositions and their devotional inspiration makes me want to go back and study the Ramayana, Upanishads, and Vedic Hymns not to mention chant a few Hare Krishnas (30 million are required to experience "Mukti," but perhaps considerably less will lead to some knowledge of Om and apprehension of Shantih).

I've listened to this album at least a dozen times and still can't seem to get a handle on the music. Alice's analog organ seems at once incongruous, anachronistic and cutting edge; at the same time her exotic harp takes the edge off, making this quite accessible music. Jimmy Garrison's bass provides pretty much the same drone-like support that was its primary function in the original Coltrane Quartet. Jack DeJohnette, who's never impressed me as a piano trio trap drummer, is in his element here as a tone colorist and energy catalyst. But the album also owes a huge debt to Ornette Coleman, whose orchestral transcriptions of Alice's musical ideas are at once accessible and third-stream.

This is hypnotic, enchanting, inexhaustible music, further evidence that all of the recent propaganda we've been hearing about Ronald Reagan leading us out of some supposed 1970's cultural morass is revisionist history at its worst.