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Last week's Night Lights show, delving into another year of the John Coltrane story, is now up for online listening: Trane '63: A Classic, A Challenge, A Change

There was a postcard for this in the Jazz Congress guest bag--release date is now March 29, evidently. I'm inclined to pass, given that I have all of this material in at least two different collections, but an eventual bargain price might persuade me to pick it up: Coltrane '58: The Prestige Recordings

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000000YGA.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg This week on Night Lights it’s “Red Trane”, in celebration of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane’s 80th birthday. Coltrane and pianist Red Garland, who had both worked in Eddie Cleanhead Vinson's late-1940s sextet, began playing together again in 1955 as part of Miles Davis’ quintet. Davis sought Garland out for his relaxed, block-chord style and his ability to impart an Ahmad Jamal-like sound; Coltrane, nearly 30 years old, was at a troubled juncture in his personal and professional life, still dogged by a drug addiction that would force Davis to eventually fire him. In 1957 Coltrane turned his life around, kicking drugs and joining the Thelonious Monk quartet. He also began to record prolifically as a leader for Prestige, the same label for which Red Garland recorded. The two men made many records together throughout 1957 and 1958, resulting in a popular and accessible collaborative jazz legacy that’s just one of several achievements from this early and significant turning point in John Coltrane’s career. We’ll hear recordings from the albums Soultrane, Traneing In, High Pressure, and All Mornin’ Long. http://mclub.te.net.ua/images/alb/cover690_15599.jpg “Red Trane” airs Saturday, September 23 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU, 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN, and at 10 p.m. Sunday evening (EST) on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. Next week: "When Betty Met the Duke"

A new Night Lights show up for online listening, focusing on the musical events of John Coltrane's 1962: Trane '62: The Classic Quartet Begins

In honor of the 93rd anniversary of Trane's birth today, here are several Night Lights shows that I've devoted to him over the years: Trane '57: John Coltrane's Pivotal Year In Jazz Trane '62: The Classic Coltrane Quartet Begins Trane '63: A Classic, A Challenge, A Change Red Trane: The Collaborations Of John Coltrane And Red Garland The John Coltrane Songbook

I'm currently working on a Night Lights show about John Coltrane in 1963 and came across mention of the Coltrane Quartet's appearance at NYC's Philharmonic Hall on Dec. 31, 1963 in the John Coltrane Reference book. I'm pretty sure I've read about this concert before, but wow, crank up the time machine and all that, especially given who else was on the bill: *John Coltrane Quartet w/Eric Dolphy *Cecil Taylor Jazz Unit (w/Jimmy Lyons as, Albert Ayler ts, Henry Grimes bass, Sunny Murray drums) *Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (w/Wayne Shorter ts, Freddie Hubbard tpt, Curtis Fuller trombone, Cedar Walton piano, Reggie Workman bass, Wellington Blakey vocals...?!) The concert was reviewed by Leroi Jones for DownBeat and Whitney Balliett for the New Yorker--I probably read said reviews in anthologies of theirs a long time ago, but somehow had overlooked just how dynamic this overall lineup must have been.

April 14 in select cities. https://www.google.com/amp/variety.com/2017/film/festivals/john-coltrane-documentary-chasing-trane-release-date-1202010181/amp/

Here's a great article by Lewis Porter on the inspiration(s) behind John Coltrane's "Impressions." Porter touches upon this in his book John Coltrane: His Life and Music (great book by the way, my only criticism is that it's about 1,500 pages too short ), but this article is much more detailed: Deep Dive with Lewis Porter: The Inspiration(s) Behind John Coltrane's "Impressions"

A roundup of four Night Lights programs devoted to the year of 1957 for Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, John Coltrane, Curtis Fuller, and Sonny Rollins: 1957 Four Portraits In Jazz

Posting today for his birthday--Coltrane's music played by Dexter Gordon, McCoy Tyner, Dave Liebman, Gerald Wilson, Steve Kuhn and others: The John Coltrane Songbook

In the liner notes to his 1964 masterpiece A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote, “During the year of 1957 I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.” 1957 has become Year Zero in the Coltrane legend, a key turning point for the tenor saxophonist, then 30 and still in the throes of a debilitating drug addiction that had led Miles Davis to twice boot Coltrane out of his group. Throughout the course of this year Coltrane would kick his drug and alcohol habits, make his first recordings as a leader, and work extensively with jazz master Thelonious Monk. His playing brimmed with a new vitality as he began a rapid evolutionary development that would lead to his so-called “sheets of sound” technique and the compositional breakthroughs of Giant Steps in the next two years. Trane ‘57 features music from John Coltrane’s Prestige leader debut Coltrane as well as his acclaimed Blue Train, his appearance on hardbop pianist Sonny Clark’s Sonny’s Crib, and studio and live dates with Thelonious Monk. In addition, we’ll hear Coltrane himself, speaking to fan August Blume in 1958 about his musical relationship with Monk and the changes he’d made the previous year in his personal life. The program airs this evening at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville; it also airs Sunday evening at 10 EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. It will be posted for online listening Monday morning in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "Ahmed Abdul-Malik."