This volume unpacks the cultural legacy of musician, spiritual leader, wife and mother Alice Coltrane. Accompanying the eponymous exhibition at Los Angeles’ Hammer Museum, the project juxtaposes works from 19 contemporary American artists including Rashid Johnson and Cauleen Smith with pieces of ephemera from Coltrane’s archive – including handwritten sheet music, unreleased audio recordings and rarely seen footage – to honour her cultural output and practice.

The book takes its title from Coltrane’s 1977 autobiography and devotional text, Monument Eternal, in which she reflected on her newfound spiritual beliefs and the path to healing and self-discovery. Coltrane was "ahead of her time," as her son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, says: she was "one of the first people to move outside the mainstream, and certainly one of the first female, Black, American jazz musicians to record her own music in her own studio, and to release music on her own terms."

Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal explores themes including spiritual transcendence, sonic innovation and architectural intimacy.

Author: Erin Christovale
Hardback
192 pages
25 x 32 cm