As the Western world opened its eyes and ears to the riches of Eastern culture (thanks in large part to the crossover success of Indian composer
Ravi Shankar and his collaboration with
the Beatles'
George Harrison), perhaps no music was more profoundly impacted than jazz. A deeply meditative and challenging idiom on its own terms, jazz absorbed the spirituality of the East to ascend to an even higher consciousness, embracing sitars, tablas, and gongs to push beyond the corporeal world into new realms of thought and expression.
Jazz for Meditation, another smartly compiled entry in Verve's budget-priced Jazz Club series, assembles some of the most serene and beautiful performances to emerge from the spiritual jazz movement -- the title may suggest this is background music, but lock in and it will transport you to a different place. Highlights include
Alice Coltrane's "Blue Nile,"
Dorothy Ashby's "For Some We Loved" and
Yusef Lateef's "Bamboo Flute Blues." ~ Jason Ankeny