And in California, about 500 people gathered on Saturday for a memorial for the jazz musician and spiritual leader Alice Coltrane, who died earlier this month at the age of 69. The service was held at the Sai Anantam Ashram, the spiritual retreat where Coltrane had taught and lived for the past 15 years. Alice Coltrane was recently interviewed on Pacifica Radio for a documentary about her husband, John Coltrane.

Alice Coltrane: “Music is so wonderful, so powerful. Music is utilized for healing. Music makes people forget their pain, their troubles. Music is used in practically every religious service all over the world. Music is utilized in worshiping God. And it is a powerful, nearly invisible force that reaches into the hearts of people — not only the intellect and the intelligence, but to reach into the heart and spirit, and that’s where good is taking place.”