Astral Traveling: A Spiritual Jazz Playlist

As The Third Eye expands its musical palette, I’ve begun dipping my toes into the vast, colorful, and diverse ocean of spiritual jazz.

I don’t know much about the genre, but I started this blog to discover new music, so I’m taking the journey. I’ve created a playlist y’all might enjoy called ‘Astral Traveling’ with spiritual/astral jazz selections from the past few years.

I decided to focus on newer artists and music instead of picking the genre’s pioneers. However, I may follow up soon with selections from the classics such as Pharoah Sanders and Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.

What is spiritual jazz, you ask? As I said, I’m no expert, but a quick search online sums it up like this … Spiritual jazz (also known as astral jazz) is a jazz subgenre that originated in the U.S. during the Sixties. While the genre is hard to characterize musically, it draws from the influences of free, avant-garde, and modal jazz and thematically focuses on themes of transcendence and spirituality. John Coltrane’s 1965 album A Love Supreme is considered a landmark of the genre and a good starting point.

While spiritual jazz may not be classified as psychedelic, the experimental and avant-garde style feels very psychedelic to me. The emphasis on transcendence and spirituality is also similar to some psych music.

Check out the link to the Astral Traveling spiritual jazz playlist on Spotify below, which features contemporary artists like Jasmine Myra, Matthew Halsall, Lucien Johnson, and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble. If you like what you hear, consider supporting these artists on Bandcamp or find them on social media.

I plan to add some new spiritual jazz reviews to The Third Eye’s rotation and explore the genre more. I hope you enjoy them!