John Coltrane: Legacy @ Meridian Hall

To John Coltrane, a musician was a message-giver; making music was an endeavour tied to a larger, greater good. His compositions and recordings are now permanent parts of the canon of great American music, recognized by the Library of Congress, with many inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame; all are now required study for young musicians hoping to unlock the secrets of the jazz tradition. In today’s mainstream media, Coltrane is often name- checked on television shows and referenced in major Hollywood films like Malcolm X, Mo Better Blues, Jerry McGuire, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and many others.

In 1995, the United States Postal Service placed Coltrane on a commemorative postage stamp. In ’97, he was bestowed the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In ’01, the National Endowment for the Arts chose “My Favorite Things” for its list of 360 songs of the century. In ’07, Coltrane was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, as a special citation for a lifetime of innovative and influential work. In 2018, the release of Both Directions at Once : The Lost Album put Coltrane in the top of album charts in 20 countries around the world, his strongest sales to date.

Now, with John Coltrane: Legacy, the compositions of John Coltrane are given a new treatment that has never been heard. With the larger format of a symphony orchestra playing new arrangements specifically written for this setting, audiences will hear Coltrane’s most enduring work expanded and reimagined by most lauded arrangers of the current era. Coltrane played his songs in new ways in every performance, and that quest to discover new meaning in the pieces continues today.