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Home , Alice Coltrane, Chris Rob, Louis Hayes, Luaka Bop, Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane

2018 BAM Next Wave Festival #BAMNextWave

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Adam E. Max, Katy Clark, Chairman of the Board President

William I. Campbell, Joseph V. Melillo, Vice Chairman of the Board Executive Producer

The Ecstatic Music of

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House Oct 10 at 8pm

Running time: approx. one hour 15 minutes, no intermission

Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda: The Ashram Experience

Curated by Par Neiburger

Season Sponsor:

Leadership support for music programs at BAM provided by the Baisley Powell Elebash Fund

Support for female choreographers and in the Next Wave Festival provided by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation

Support for the Signature Artists Series provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation

The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane

ALICE COLTRANE TURIYASANGITANANDA, AN APPRECIATION

Presented with

Alice Coltrane was an African American artist, mother, and spiritual leader who grew up playing gospel, classical, and in . She was an exceptional musician who married and continued his spiritual quest.

When John Coltrane died in 1967, it left his wife of only a few years bereft. After a time of great suffering, Alice met guru Swami Satchidananda and traveled to India with him. Following a visit there, she had a vision to open an ashram, and bought 50 acres of land in Agoura Hills, , on the outskirts of . There a multi-ethnic and multi generational religious community grew up around her.

The high point of living in this very special and loving environment took shape on Sundays when Alice would lead the community in a musical ceremony, mixing both gospel and Indian chant, to create a music she wholly invented. It was something extraordinarily powerful.

In 2017, 10 years since she left her physical body, in what would have been her 80th year alive, Luaka Bop released a compilation of the spiritual music created for these ceremonies, and organized concerts that includes elements of these special services, trying to share the unique experience of hearing this music at the ashram.

Performing the music during these ceremonies are many of the original members of the ashram, along with added backing musicians and special guests.

Most importantly, the ceremonies are intended to be participatory—everyone is welcome to partake through , chanting, or clapping (or however else you feel comfortable). We have therefore included lyrics of the songs (bhajans) within this program.

The Ashram was a mix of cultures and ages. This group is composed of the singers still alive today; it will be led by Surya Botofasina on keys, who grew up at the Ashram and learned this music from Alice herself.

Furthermore, this group will be joined by special guests who have been inspired by Alice Coltrane. Performers

INVOCATION Purusha Hickson

The Sai Anantam Ashram Singers

Radha Botofasina (Choir Director) Shyam Reyes Sathya Womack-Freeman Jaya Lakshmi Moss Sri Hari Ram Moss Arianna Gouveia Isabel Belloso Lakshmi Myers Sita Michelle Coltrane Brahmachandri Bridges Mahesh Bridges Paramisha Warren

MUSICIANS Surya Botofasina (Music Director, keyboard) Joseph “Joe Blaxx” Grissett (drums) (bass)

GUESTS Rudresh Mahanthappa Gang Gang Dance

VIDEOGRAPHERS Priscilla Telmon & Vincent Moon Who’s Who

SAI ANANTAM ASHRAM SINGERS DEZRON DOUGLAS, (bass) known for his The members of the Sai Anantam Ashram were musical versatility, is one of the most in demand seekers of truth and found it through Alice young bassists in jazz today. With the encour- Coltrane Turiyasangitananda’s spiritual guidance. agement of his mentor, the late saxophonist, Along the way, they found their own unique , and educator Jackie Mclean, he voice through the bhajan chanting. Several enrolled in the Jackie McLean Institute of African had been professional singers before they were American Music at the Hartt School of Music. introduced to Sanskrit bhajans (songs of praise). Douglas has performed and recorded with Alice These days, though Alice Coltrane has left her Coltrane’s son , and her longtime body, they continue to carry Alice Coltrane’s style friend and collaborator , as well forward as a wonderful synthesis of ancient and as , Cyrus Chestnut, Louis Hayes, modern sounds that transcend human bound- George Cables, Rene McLean, Al Foster, Billy aries and follows the Atma (soul). They have Drummond, Victor Lewis, Mulgrew Miller, Kenny performed in Australia, Europe, and in the US, Garrett, , , Papo and celebrate every Sunday in Los Angeles or Vazquez, and the Marsalis family. He is a mem- wherever they may be. ber of the Ravi Coltrane Quartet, Papo Vazquez Mighty Pirates, and a long standing member of PURUSHA HICKSON the Cyrus Chestnut Trio. Purusha Hickson was one of the very first students of the venerable Swamini Turiyasan- JOSEPH “JOE BLAXX” GRISSETT, (drums) gitananda, also known as Alice Coltrane. He is from Queens, NY, began turning household items the founder and director of Stretch for Success into drum sets before he spoke his first word. Seminars, and has been teaching hatha yoga for Like many before him, his career began in the over 40 years. Hickson has studied in depth the church. Formally educated at the New School Sivananda, Iyengar, and Ashtanga yoga systems. University, he has performed with Wess “Warm- He conducts workshops and retreats worldwide, daddy” Anderson, Maurice Brown, Bruce Wil- and has developed a Teacher Training Program liams, Marc Cary, Chris Rob, Meshell Ndegeo- for aspiring yoga teachers in the Los Angeles cello, Wynton Marsalis, and . His area. His first yoga video, “The Beauty Within, most memorable and prestigious performance Gentle Yoga for Beginners,” was released 2008 was with as part of President to critical acclaim. ’s 2009 pre-inauguration concert in Washington. MUSICIANS GUESTS SURYA BOTOFASINA, (Music Director, key- board) a seasoned performer and composer/pro- RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA ducer, grew up on the Sai Anantam Ashram in Few musicians share the ability of alto Agoura Hills, CA, with Alice Coltrane as his men- saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa to tor and guide. With influences ranging from John embody the expansive possibilities of his music Coltrane and to Public Enemy with his culture. What has materialized is a and Tupac Shakur, Botofasina traverses the mu- sound that hybridizes progressive jazz and South sical spectrum, striving towards the exploration Indian classical music in a fluid and forward- of truth and commenting on the current musical looking form that reflects Mahanthappa’s own climate. He holds a BA in music from the New experience growing up a second-generation School of Jazz and Contemporary Studies, and is Indian-American. Hailed by The New York Times the music director of the Alice Coltrane celebra- as possessing “a roving intellect and a bladelike tion with the Sai Anantam Singers. His new articulation,” Mahanthappa has been awarded a is available via his website. Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and commissions from the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund, Who’s Who

Chamber Music America, and the American Moon has been dubbed ‘the re-inventor of the Composers Forum. He has been named alto music video’ by The New York Times, Moon was saxophonist of the year for seven of eight years the main director of the Take Away Shows of La running in Downbeat magazine’s International Blogothèque; his work revolutionized the concept Critics’ Polls (2011—13, 2015—18), and for of music video and the way of filming music in five consecutive years by the Jazz Journalists’ the entire world. Since 2009, Moon has dedi- Association (2009—13) and again in 2016. cated himself to his nomadic label, la Collection He won alto saxophonist of the year in the Petites Planètes. Crossing the world—his camera 2016 and 2017 JazzTimes Magazine Critics’ and computer in his backpack—he makes Polls. In 2013, he received a prestigious Doris ethnographic-experimental films in an indepen- Duke Performing Artist Award. In 2015, he was dent way, recording traditional and sacred music, named a Artists Fellow. In 2016, religious and shamanic rituals, then shares it all he was named the director of jazz and associate for free on internet under a Creative Commons director of the Program in Musical Performance licence. Priscilla Telmon, director, photogra- at Princeton University. pher, writer, and a member of the Society of French Explorers, has dedicated herself to long GANG GANG DANCE is an American experi- trips combining history and adventure, paying mental music band in New York City. The band homage to the wisdom tradition and mystery is known for its distinctive sound which features of the cultures she has visited. Her passion for synthesized electronics and percussion, plus exploration of ancient cultures has given birth the varied vocal styles of singer Lizzi Bougatsos. to films, reportings, and books, and found its They have toured internationally and released way into international press, TV, and museums. several . She published La Chevauchée des Steppes and Carnets de Steppes after a six-month adventure VIDEOGRAPHERS on horseback from Kazakhstan to the Aral Sea, and later published Himalayas, and directed PRISCILLA TELMON & VINCENT MOON are a the feature film Voyage au Tibet Interdit, on her collaborating artist duo working as independent ultimate expedition—by foot and alone—over filmmakers and sound-explorers. Together they a seven-month walk through the Himalayas in produce ethnographic experimental films and the footsteps of the French explorer Alexandra music recordings that are based on material David Neel. collected from their numerous travels. Vincent

Photo: Krisanne Johnson Who’s Who

PRODUCERS presented 500 musicians all over New York in 25 venues, including David Lynch’s Industrial LUAKA BOP Symphony, the World Sax Quartet, for the first Founded by in 1989, Luaka Bop time together with African Drummers, the But- has introduced , , Tim thole Surfers, Conlon Nancarrow, Heiner Müller, Maia, and William Onyeabor to the world at the return to NYC of the legendary composer large, and become home to artists such as Tom Moondog, and David Byrne. Zé, , , , and Janka Nabay, among others. In 2017, it released ERIC WELLES-NYSTRÖM is a creative music World Spirituality Classics Vol. 1: The Ecstatic consultant working with Luaka Bop, the indepen- Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, the dent founded by David Byrne in first-ever compilation of Alice Coltrane’s private 1989. His most recent projects include creating press cassette tapes from 1982—95, making a world-wide touring vending machine for the these songs available to the wider public for the band Phoenix, and directing a series of high first time. Hailed as “astonishing” by NPR and school music videos with David Byrne. With “astounding” by , the compilation Luaka Bop, he helped introduce the mythic Ni- received worldwide acclaim, and was listed as gerian synth-pioneer William Onyeabor, and has the Best Re-Issue of the Year by The Wire, Spin, produced multiple music documentaries, short Mojo, and many others. films, album campaigns, and live shows, with artists ranging from Damon Albarn to Pharoah YALE EVELEV is president and co-owner of Sanders. His work has been nominated at the the record label Luaka Bop, which he has been American Association of Independent Music, running with David Byrne since the early 90s. and commemorated in . He has released and executive-produced more than 85 albums, including Os Mutantes, Tom CURATOR Zé, Kings Go Forth, William Onyeabor, , Zap Mama, Shuggie Otis, and David Byrne. PAR DAVID NEIBURGER provides music pro- Recently he co-produced Eric Welles Nystrom’s gramming for venues in New York City through the “Atomic Bomb! Who is Wiliam Onyeabor?” his company Eulipion Sounds. He is the artistic concert series, featuring guests such as David director for The Rhythm Foundation in Miami Byrne, Damon Albarn, Amadou & Mariam, and was the artistic director of Pharoah Sanders, Dev Hynes, and members Institute in New York from 2014—18 and the of , LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, cofounder and executive producer of the Trinu- The Rapture, DeadPrez, etc. Before Luaka Bop, meral Music and Arts Festival. He is a curator, he was at BAM producing and programming a writer, musician, and DJ. music festival called New Music America, which Lyrics

1. Sivaya 5. Journey to Satchidananda Sivaya Parameshwaraya Shashishekharaya Namah Om 6. Om Shanti Bhavaya Guna Sambhavava Om Shanti Om Shanti Om Shanti Om Siva Thandavaya Namah Om Om Shanti Om Shanti Om Shanti Om

Translation Ananta Natha Parambrahman Om O Siva, Lord of all, whose hair is adorned with Vitthala Keshava Madhava Hari Om the moon, Embodiment of all good qualities, performer of Om Jaya Krishna Jai Rama Hari Om the Holy dance. Om Jaya Rama Jai Krishna Hari Om

2. Rama Rama Sri Bhagawan Translation: Rama Rama Sri Bhagawan Divine symbol of peace is of and in the Supreme Om Tat Vishno Paranam Padham Eternal Lord, Whose names are Vitthala, Keshava, Madhava and Hari. Iswara Allah Tere Tere Nam Masjid Mandir Para Para Dham Victory to Krishna. Victory to Rama.

Translation: 7. Universal Chant O Rama, You are Vishnu, that Supreme Lord Krishna Krishnaya - Janandanaya Who is the highest Goal. Allah Devaya - Jehovaya Ishwara and Allah are Thy Names. Jesus Christaya - Isa Nathaya Holy temples and mandirs are Thy holy Places Siva Sivaya - Brahma Brahmaya Rama Ramaya - Vishnu Vishnaya 3. Krishna Japaye Krishna Krishna Japaye 8. Om Namah Turiyasangitananda Tera Nam ji bolo Pt. 1 Om Namah Turiyasangitananda Rama, Rama Krishna Guru Om Namah Guri Devi Sri Guru Devi Charanam Rama Krishna Rama Guru Om Bhaja Rama Charanam Krishna Rama Para Atma Guru Rama Para Atma Guru Translation: Krishna Para Atma Guru Obeisances to Turiyasangitananda, our divine Para Atma Guru teacher. Worshiping at the Feet of the Guru is like wor- Krishna Krishna Japaye shiping at the Feet of God. Tera Nam ji bolo Pt. 2 Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram Ji bolo! You are the essence of God’s Will And I, the privileged to serve Translation: Chant the Names of Krishna and Rama You are the Song of God Victory to Rama and Krishna And I, the privileged to hear.

4. Om Rama Radiant, opulent, forever Pt. 1 & 3 transcendentally free. Om Rama Jai Jai Rama Om Rama Jai Jai Rama Turiya sangita nanda Photo: Yannick Grandmont and Unknown(front),VishwarupaWu, Botofasina(babyinRadha’s arms),Radha Surya Botofasina. John Coltrane,Jr. (behind),SwaminiAliceColtranceTuriyasangitananda, Purusha Hickson(behind),OranColtrane, Unknown(purple) sister), ShankariAdamsholdingherdaughterJanardani(behind),Ravi Coltrane,Turiya (front),SitaMichelleColtrane,Arjuna Roberts The Vedantic CenterinWoodland ofRadha Botofasina.From toright:GirijaMarilynMcLeod Hills,1978—82.Photocourtesy (Alice’s left Life ontheAshram The core group ofuswasabout adozen. who elsewasthere? How manykidsgrew uptherewithyou,and nanda AliceColtrane“Swamini.”) child; Irodeitthere.(We calledTuriyasangita - bought fromOranColtrane,Swamini’s youngest Agora Hillsin1982.Ihadabikethat mymother was fiveyearsoldwhentheashram movedto the Vedantic CenterwasinWoodlands Hills.I ourexperiencewhen My momandIstarted the SaiAnantamAshraminSouthernCalifornia. Californiaandraisedon I wasborninNorthern When didyoumovetotheashram? As toldtoAndyBeta Director, Botofasina Surya withMusic Ashram: Aninterview Background ontheSaiAnantam Photo: Krisanne Johnson calculated bythe measures thatweusetoday. That wastheday when timewasnotabletobe day. Consistently, itallrevolvedaroundSunday. there wereeventsonWednesday night andSun- physical presencewasfeltfrequently because times aweek.Her“presence”was daily. Her latter years,shewasthereless,but atleastthree 15 minutesbycartogettheashram. Inher down daily. Itwas12milesawaybutitonlytook Hills forthedurationofherlifebutshecame She stayedatthesameresidenceinWoodland Did SwaminiliveintheAshramaswell? Michelle, andRavi. kids wehadthemostinteractionwith—Oran, the ageof17andpassedaway. Theotherthree not attheashramashewasinacaraccident children. Swamini’soldestchild,JohnJr., was There wereourparents,peoplewhodidnothave Life on the Ashram

Can you tell us about Swamini arriving? I’m under the impression that even if you were It was very distinct when Swamini came—it familiar with these psalms from India, her ver- would be early afternoon, and she had a maroon sions of these bhajans are different. Lincoln Continental and you’d hear the music There are differences and there are similari- from her car and a minute later, her car would ties. An African-American woman from Detroit pull up and the bhajans [songs] would be brought something unique and musically rich blasting at a nice volume level. She had on her that’s clearly brought to these bhajans. But there distinct orange robe—and that’s when the day are still a lot of very traditional things. In its really began. That’s when time wasn’t a factor simplest form, bhajans are call-and-response, as any longer. There would be a pause and then were the bhajans that we sang on a weekly ba- she would turn on the organ and the takeoff sis. The gentlemen or the ladies would start. The would begin! tempo would increase at the second go-round, which happens in India. You hear that a lot also Did she just play organ? Or did she play in gospel—the tempo goes up after a little bit or harp? and the energy changes. The organ was just there. There wasn’t a set-up. There were a lot of handheld instruments that Did you ever have lessons with Swamini? the congregation would have—percussion, I never had formal lessons with Swamini. I got mundung, the two-headed drum from India, and my most personal instruction from her when I a lot of shakers. I remember the organ, not the was learning the text of the Bhagavad Gita— OB-8 that you hear on the recordings, just the there are melodies that run along with the text. organ and that Leslie speaker. It’s a story about self-realization, where the god Krishna is speaking and showing the way of Were the bhajans [psalms; Hindu devotion enlightenment. It’s about how to live your life songs] evocative for you immediately? Or did it to achieve that ultimate bliss. There would be a take awhile for them to sink in? keyboard set up in our small classroom and she As kids we would either play outside or were told would teach us the book. And as the only person to join our parents inside the mandir [house of in our class who played, she would literally lean worship], where I got my first exposure to the out of the way and she would play something bhajans. As we got older, from seven to 13 and and I had to learn it that way. It comes by beyond, we didn’t go to Sunday school so much, once—try to get it or jot it down. but went to where the adults were and listened to what she had to say and be a part of the I got a chance to play the bhajans in the ashram. music. It was a big deal. One time, she was kind enough to come and allow me to play right next to her. She adjusted At first the music just felt good, it felt unique— the key to how I had learned to play. I’ll never I never heard anything quite like it. My mom forget—she showed me as we were playing and was also a musician, and started me on piano she would just call out the chords: “A-flat, G, E- lessons when I was in second grade and years flat,” and then at one point she said, “Just play.” later when I played jazz as a teenager. The music Music is a very aural thing that we learn with of the bhajans really began to take form and our ears. It’s a primary version of learning music; shape as I grew older. In one sense, I would hear very rarely do you learn to play music by learning in it this healing, uplifting aspect. Later on, as a score. That’s how she was teaching me. Then my musical ear developed, I started to hear the when there were different things I was trying to technical prowess and that was another level of learn and figure out on my own, I would try to “wow.” I thought, I can’t believe she’s playing a play it for her and she’d give me different point- melody with her left hand, chords with the right ers. Overall it was just encouragement. She also hand, bass and volume pedals with her feet, and gave me the chance to experience the biggest leading a choir all at once. stage when I was still young, playing at the John Coltrane Festival. Life on the Ashram

Did you have a sense of her as a person? remind us of the devotion that we who are Swamini was the most generous, kindest person looking to find something deeper than gratifying I’ve ever known. I’m very much a mama’s boy in our five senses—to hear and eat and walk— the first place, but if I had to step outside of that are looking to really get to know the deepest bubble, the most super-human person on earth parts of ourselves in order to offer them to a was Swamini. A lot of people are kind to kids, higher purpose. but you really saw a lot of kindness from her when interacting with these intense “I love John You touched on this earlier, this tradition of the Coltrane so much I have to be around you” fans. African-American churches—was it singular to Her grace in handling each person, whether have an African-American commune like this? they be as young as a kid who’s never listened It’s one of the most unique experiences in the to a John Coltrane record, versus someone who world; you just don’t hear about it. I’ve sung has every single Coltrane record memorized bhajans in different places here in America; it’s and they’re star-struck, it didn’t matter—she just not the same as the ashram. As a youngster, exuded the same amount of grace. She was so I had no context in realizing how unprecedented approachable and so truly graceful. The dignified it was to have an African-American woman level of interacting with people on a much leading a spiritual community that was based deeper level than just surface conversations in global consciousness but that had a lot of was remarkable. Eastern influence, that equation alone is quite unique. For me, it was normal. It’s just how Can you talk about what the songs are about? I grew up. By definition, the bhajans are called devotional songs that are typically found in Hindu lore. The ashram community was very much African- There are bhajans that also reference the beauty American, which if you know anything about of Islam and Allah and the purest form of Agoura, California, is very rare. By the age of Christianity and Christ and the other aspects of 13, I had been to more bar and bat mitzvahs Hindu lore, Krishna, Ram, Vishnu, and Shiva. than a lot of people. Going to school, I always These songs, all of them—they are a praise of knew how different we were—we didn’t look a higher energy, a divine energy—and some of like everybody, our names didn’t sound like them would be recounting a particular story, like everybody else’s. I remember going to gas about Rama and his youth. stations where you look for your name on a keychain and going “Oh, I’m not on this and I There are various uses for bhajans. People use never will be.” Then I went to India and saw my them as ways to put the “good juju” out there name everywhere, even on a light bulb shop! before starting a good-sized task. Say you’re moving into a new house with a new baby—you Is there anything else that you would like to go to your home and sing this bhajan, or say add, or let people know? this prayer, and that’s to put the good vibes If people ever get a chance to experience our out there. Almost akin to the Native American ceremony, I hope they feel welcome to join us. tradition of smudging a home, walking around We would love to have them! with the sage and whatnot. They are there to