Robin James

Album of the day. If John and Alice Coltrane were the first couple of spiritual jazz, then Doug and Jean Carn definitely ranks second in that caliber. The beauty, urgency, and intensity of the music they created together across the three albums they cut in the early '70s for Gene Russell's pioneering Black Jazz label more than confirms it. Pianist/organist/composer Doug Carn is often overlooked by many except jazz enthusiasts and record collectors, which is truly criminal because he's a force of nature who brings so much depth and conscious power to everything he does. Then there's Jean Carn, another force of nature with an earth shattering voice that soars high. Perhaps she's better known for her later sophisticated R&B hits at Philadelphia International, but the improvisatory, nation-building approach on these early recordings provides a bold contrast. Their third and last offering as a collective, 1973's Revelation is my favorite. Like the previous works, there's so much to this one: their renditions of John Coltrane's "Naima" and McCoy Tyner's "Contemplation" are beyond spellbinding. Then Doug's own originals, like "Revelation," "Power and Glory," "Feel Free," and "Time is Running Out" are right up there, straddling between subtlety and fire within its musical textures and lyrics. Just beautiful through and through.