Joe Henderson Featuring Alice Coltrane - The Elements

Alice Coltrane teamed with Joe Henderson for this 1973 jazz classic, an album where each member’s playing is in service of a single, cosmic statement of music. The reissue itself, newly remastered from the original analog tapes (not a given these days), is exceptional, with rich sound and packaging that focuses on quality and staying true to the original issue rather than offering sheer heavy-cardboard weight. And its attention to detail reinforces something important about the record as a whole: how well The Elements works as a single statement. There are no earth-shattering solos, no star turns, every musician is there to create this primordial sound-world. This collective approach is something Alice Coltrane did particularly well. Spiritually-minded cosmic jazz came into its own at the turn of the ’70s, and this is one of the best albums the scene produced.