Universal Consciousness, Alice’s fifth album as leader, features two pieces, “Battle at Armageddon” and “The Ankh of Amen-Ra,” recorded at the home on June 4th, 1971. On “Battle of Armageddon,” Alice on organ and Rashied Ali on drums explore a sweeping landscape of sound through improvisation.
She flies up and down the entire range of the keyboard, referencing Eastern melodic intervals and American church music in tandem, while Ali’s gong-like cymbal work and erratic rhythms intensify the ecstatic atmosphere. “The Ankh of Amen-Ra” opens with Coltrane’s unique and ethereal harp work paired with Ali’s massive wind chimes sound, evolving from there into another organ and drums duo that closes the album with a reflective return to a more traditional blues. These far-reaching offerings are fitting last documents from the home studio in Dix Hills, as they present a deeply emotional and spiritual musical atmosphere.
