JOHN COLTRANE

INFINITY

  1/  Peace On Earth                             (J. Coltrane)                 9.03
  2/  Living Space                               (J. Coltrane)                 10.40
  3/  Joy                                        (J. Coltrane)                 8.01
  4/  Leo                                        (J. Coltrane)                 10.08

          Original tracks on 1,3 and 4 were recorded at Coast Recorders, San
            Francisco, California, 1965 and 1966
          Original tracks on 2 recorded at Van Gelder Recording, Englewood Cliffs,
            New Jersey, 1965
          Overdubs recorded at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California 1972
          Mixed at The Village Recorder
          Engineer at The Village Recorder : Baker Bigsby, with the assistance of
            Gilmar Fortis
          Produced by Ed Michel, supervised and inspired by Alice Coltrane
John Coltrane: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet (4); Alice Coltrane: harp (1,2,3), piano (1,4), organ (1,4), vibes (1,3), tamboura (2), tympani (4); Pharoah Sanders: tenor saxophone (4), flute (4); Rashied Ali: percussion (2,4); Elvin Jones: drums (2,3); Oran Coltrane: bells (2); Ray Appleton: percussion (2,4); Jimmy Garrison: bass (2), solo bass (3); Charlie Haden: bass (1,3,4); McCoy Tyner: piano (2,3); Joan Chapman: tamboura (2); STRING SECTION - Murray Adler (concertmaster), Michael White, Gordon Marron and James Getzoff or Gerald Vinci: violins; Myra Kestenbaum and Rollice Dale: violas; Edgar Lustgarten and Jesse Ehrlich: cellos.

Strings composed, arranged and conducted by Alice Coltrane

          1972 - Impulse! Records/ABC Records (USA), AS-9225  (Vinyl)
          19?? - Impulse! Records (Japan) (CD)

REVIEWS :

Recorded at several sessions in the two years prior to his death but not issued until 1972, Infinity was the subject of much controversy among Coltrane aficionados when it finally appeared. The horror on the part of Coltrane purists was directed to the posthumous string arrangements written by Alice Coltrane, his widow, which were grafted onto the performances. But however much the strings softened or unnecessarily augmented the music, it must be said that Alice Coltrane really didn't do such a bad job and the ultimate result is an unusual and oddly attractive work. The juxtaposition of the fiery, very free playing of late Coltrane against the dreamy, consonant strings is seductively appealing and one might even make the argument that, given the increasing mystical proclivities of his later years and the presence of Eastern instruments in his ensemble, he may well have approved. The pieces include some of his more powerful late compositions such as "Leo" and "Peace on Earth," and his playing (with a rare smidgen of bass clarinet) is typically inspired, if not reaching the raging heights of releases like Live in Japan. Whatever problems the Coltrane ideologue may have with his wife's embroideries, Infinity still deserves a place in his/her collection.

Brian Olewnick (courtesy of All Music Guide website)