[2][4] Pharoah Sanders took inspiration from Arabic, Indian, and Afro-Cuban music to create early spiritual jazz albums, including Tauhid (1967) and Karma (1969).

Prevalent artists of this era of spiritual jazz included Lonnie Liston Smith, Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, and Don Cherry.

[1] Saxophonist Albert Ayler was a student of John Coltrane, known for his "uncanny, visceral, and startlingly new"[2] take on jazz tradition and his use of spirituals, as seen in 1969's Music is the Healing Force of the Universe.

[1][2] Electric keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith, inspired by his work with Pharaoh Sanders, released his debut album Astral Traveling in 1973.

[7] Examples of spiritual jazz albums from the 2010s and 2020s include The Epic by Kamasi Washington (2015),[4][8] Wisdom of Elders by Shabaka & The Ancestors (2016),[10] There is a Place by Maisha (2019),[7] Reverence by Muriel Grossman (2019),[7] and Cosmic Transitions by Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few (2021).

[11] According to Treblezine, "Kamasi Washington brought spiritual jazz back to popular consciousness on a wider scale in 2015 with the release of [The Epic]".