CALARTS TO HONOR MUSICIAN ALICE COLTRANE AT GRADUATION SHE'LL URGE YOUNG PEOPLE TO PURSUE THEIR OWN CREATIVITY.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Alice Coltrane carries the enormous weight of her husband's legacy every day with her last name - a name that evokes jazz royalty, musical genius and the undeniably resonant body of work of legendary jazz artist John Coltrane.

But Coltrane, 65, an accomplished pianist and harpist in her own right who was once a member of her late husband's quintet, doesn't feel overshadowed by his fame.

``I was not in his shadow,'' Coltrane said, smiling. A striking figure with her tall stature and high cheekbones, she looked regal in a bright orange, traditional Indian outfit with elaborate beading and a shawl with gold trim.

``I like to see it as standing in the light, in the virtue of all that he represents musically, his greatness, the commitment, the dedication, his great genius and profound love for God.''

After accepting countless awards on behalf of her husband ever since his death in 1967, Coltrane will be awarded an honorary doctor of arts degree Friday for her accomplishments as an artist at this year's California Institute of the Arts graduation ceremony in Valencia.

``She has created an extraordinary body of truly visionary work that always was, and is, far ahead its time,'' said CalArts President Steven D. Lavine. ``Alice Coltrane was a natural choice for CalArts to bestow this honor upon.''

The honorary degrees are based on the recommendations of the school's Academic Council, which represents the entire faculty. Recent recipients have included musician Ry Cooder, composer Steve Reich and artist Bruce Nauman.

When CalArts offered the honor, Coltrane said she hesitated a little until her oldest son - a CalArts graduate along with her younger son - encouraged her to accept it.

``I'm so accustomed to accepting honors for John, that I really at first couldn't believe,'' she stopped, uncomfortable with the attention, searching for the right words. ``I didn't wish to consider that this honor would be offered to me.''

Sitting in her Woodland Hills office surrounded by everything John Coltrane, from posters to a big picture of his last saxophone, the only sign of her work is the music playing softly in the room - the latest of her more than 15 recordings, the 1978 ``Transfigurations,'' which blends jazz, classical music, African and Indian music, and gospel.

Coltrane's eclectic musical explorations range from bebop and free jazz to classical orchestrations and Indian-inflected devotional music - with critics saying that her music moved toward conveying the universal spirituality she follows.

Coltrane's daughter, Michelle Carbonell Coltrane, said her mother, much like her father, has always thought outside the box, and that was reflected in her art.

``Just like John Coltrane, they were artists before their time,'' she said.

Alice and John Coltrane married in 1965, two years before his death from liver cancer at age 41. While they balanced their musical careers and rearing four children, Coltrane feels she had no influence on her husband's music, but she credits him for guiding her own exploration of her musical style.

``He brought the completion to my musical journey as far as recording, writing music and concertizing,'' she said. ``When I met him, I finally reached this place where I recognized a freedom I've never known in my music.''

Daughter Michelle disagrees that her mom did not influence John Coltrane's music.

``In this case, an artist being married to another artist helped him go on in his journey, and Alice, as a wife, knew his priority is the music and allowed him to have his space,'' Michelle said.

And she also praises her mother for juggling a career and family as an African-American woman in America.

``With four children, she still got in the band,'' she said emphatically, about her mother joining the John Coltrane quintet. ``Even by today's standards it's ...,'' she said, shaking her head, unable to express her awe in words.

Born in Detroit, Coltrane cannot remember a time where there was no music in her life.

Her brother was a bassist, her nephew plays the saxophone, and her children are all musicians. Even her 11-year-old granddaughter has been studying the piano since she was in kindergarten.

``I was in an environment that was highly conducive to producing music,'' Coltrane said. ``Music is so close to my heart, to my soul and my spirit that I believe that it is a divine gift from God to not only appreciate music from other people, but to be one to allow that flow, that divine inspiration, to flow through you.''

Now, Coltrane is busy running the John Coltrane Foundation, through which scholarships are offered to support the next generation of innovative jazz artists by providing financial support to music students studying jazz. The foundation also handles all requests for John Coltrane's music, including for television shows and movies.

She also is deeply involved in the Vedantic Center she founded in Southern California that has been in service for 28 years, and works on spiritual writing - she has written several books - and devotional piano music.

Though she does still play the piano and the organ regularly at devotional services, despite the sporadic urgings of her children to put on a concert, Coltrane has no desire to perform.

``I have no yearnings or longings to seek anything else on that level,'' she said. ``That's it for me. Now it's time for the youngsters. These young kids are good and I like hearing them and their potential.''

And encouraging that potential and improving their art is the core of the message she plans to impart to the graduating students Friday.

``I want to tell them to further their talents, artistic expression and artistic potentiality, and to allow their art to reach its highest potential and highest level of excellence.''

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(color) Pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane, widow of the late jazz saxophone great John Coltrane, will receive an honorary doctor of arts degree from California Institute of the Arts.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer