PERFORMING ARTS

Monument Eternal

Akashic. Feb. 2025. 64p. ISBN 9781636142258. $19.95. MEMOIR
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Initially published in 1977, this sparkling new edition of Coltrane’s book follows her spiritual journey during a long period of overwhelming grief after the death of her husband, jazz musician John Coltrane. The first of three books written between 1977 and 1997 is described as a spiritual exercise. A celebrated jazz harpist, pianist, and composer in her own right, Alice Coltrane (1937–2007) became a widow at 30, with three children, after her husband died in 1967. Thanks to critically acclaimed albums and concerts, her music career (which extended from jazz to gospel, R&B, and Indian devotional music) began to really blossom in the late 1960s and early 1970s. However, grief and loneliness continued to haunt her, she writes here. She found spiritual enlightenment when she began following a Vedic spiritual path, specifically Advaita Vedanta, a practice led by guru Swami Satchidananda. By the late 1970s, she abandoned her storied music career to live in an ashram in California, later becoming a Swamini. Readers should not expect a conventional memoir, though Coltrane does discuss family, her music, and memories of her husband. Instead, this book explores faith, delivered in deft and, at times, opaque terms.
VERDICT Coltrane’s winning spiritual exercise will appeal to readers looking for a wonderful memoir about music and personal faith.
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