I've been listening to a lot of jazz as of late, and while I have immense appreciation for the range of jazz history from the hard bop and modal stylings of Art Blakey, Hank Mobley and Herbie Hancock to the outer fringes of free jazz ala Peter Brotzmann, Albert Ayler, William Parker, or, of course, Sun Ra, for me the most striking albums seem to be the ones touched with a sense of the eternal, ones that rejoice in the triumph of the spirit, and the wisdom of a higher power. Here's a small selection of some of my favorite albums on rotation at home:
Joe Henderson with Alice Coltrane "The Elements"
McCoy Tyner "Atlantis"
Horace Tapscott with the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra "Live at I.U.C.C.
John Zorn "A Vision in Blakelight"
The Awakening "Hear, Sense, and Feel"
Pharoah Sanders "Thembi"
Doug Carn "Revelation"
Alice Coltrane "Ptah the El Daoud"
