Om, Jazz, and Alice ColtraneAfter looking around at some reviews of Om's album God is Good I heard one person compare it to Alice Coltrane of all people. Some further research took me to her album Journey to Satchidananda, and more importantly the albums eponymous track. As much as i enjoyed the God is Good album and its main song Thebes, Alice Coltrane's track is simply fantastic. Cecil McBee's bass is less hypnotic and droning than Om's, it has a fuller and to no ones surprise jazzier sound, that perfectly complements the lightness and quickness of Alice's harp. With Pharoah Sanders improvising on the soprano saxophone Journey to Satchidananda is melodically complex and interesting; qualities that Om simply does not posses due to the Bass/Drum composition of the group. I do not mean this so much as a knock on Om, they are very good at what they do and I do love what they do, but Coltranes group can simply do more with the muscicianship that they have. I don't really intend to try to rate the two against each other but instead look at a common bass line that is taken in two different direction by two bands separated by almost 40 years and many genre lines.
Song: Here
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