Anything Alice Coltrane touches is usually pretty brilliant. That cosmic outlook on life and music soaks into every note!
Despite being supremely talented herself, a high quality collaboration never goes amiss. You could certainly say Joe Henderson is high quality, and his composition skills are ably augmented with Coltrane’s playing abilities.
And his own, of course. Henderson is one of the most important sax players of post-war Jazz, and his skill is obvious here as he deftly blazes over the Eastern inspired backdrop.
Unusually for a jazz song, but not unusually for a work of this experimental scope, the drums are genuinely groovy – it’s a sick swinging beat!
You can find the piece on 1974’s classic The Elements. The whole affair is a journey through time and space, my favourite kind of jazz!