Matador Records have announced that they will release the first ever complete set of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda's The Ashram Tapes, bringing together the definitive, original versions of all four albums with Coltrane's full mixes and artwork lovingly restored, and sequenced in the way that she intended.

Those details are important, as the first and most well-known tape Turiya Sings (1982) was released in 2021 without the final mixes, missing the synth parts, while certain tracks cherrypicked from the other three albums – Divine Songs (1987), Infinite Chants (1990), and Glorious Chants (1995) – have previously surfaced on a 2017 Luaka Bop compilation.

The devotional Ashram Tapes have an almost mythical quality to them, having originally been distributed in small numbers to members of the Sai Anantam Ashram that Coltrane founded in 1983, up in the Santa Monica mountains. It's technically a misnomer as the fourth album, Glorious Chants, was distributed on CD rather than cassette, but why let such a small detail spoil a perfectly good name. Of course they have been widely bootlegged in the years since, but this complete release has been a long time coming.

Writing in a press release, Coltrane's daughter Michelle had this to say:

“Alice's vow to a monastic life opened a passageway that introduced her to ancient sacred recitations, voices, rhythms, and melodies – divine, ethereal sounds that bridged the material and spiritual realms. Many interpret this experience as offering a profound understanding of the human experience.

Musically, it’s a pure reflection of the life journey my mother was on at the time. She was seeking, in every, most authentic way, a life of devotion, transcendence, and spiritual elevation. The music was an inspired offering to the sanctity and feeling of this spiritual path.

The profundity of Turiya Alice Coltrane's musical offerings now being made publicly available is in alignment with a divine order, something Alice often spoke about. Artists never stop creating.”

Matador have not yet announced a release date, or dates, for The Ashram Tapes, but they say it won't be long now. Formats will include CD, vinyl, cassette, and all digital formats.