The legendary saxophonist and his performances at the Village Vanguard represented the many possibilities of what lay ahead
By Ben RatliffNovember 3, 2021 at 9:42 a.m. EDT
Last month the John Coltrane section in your streaming libraries acquired a new item: a recording of “A Love Supreme,” the entire suite, from Seattle’s Penthouse jazz club in 1965. Superb and imposing, it satisfies an understandable desire to see Coltrane, and that particular work, as a kind of monument or icon. It has the ring of the last word. It presides; it has authority;it moves slowly and heavily and comes to a stately ending.
So much of American culture for so long has been based on great works. Maybe it’s a question of standards or simply a measure of saving time. The questions often come down to: Who owns the crown? (One of the posthumous Coltrane reissue projects, from the 1990s, was titled “The Heavyweight Champion.”) Or: Tell me why John Coltrane matters, fast. Give me one work, or one record! Don’t overwhelm me!
Legendary musician Miles Davis’ name will now forever be tied to the Manhattan street he called home. NY1’s Jon Weinstein filed the following report.
The familiar sounds of Miles Davis’ famous trumpet filled 77th Street on what would have been his 88th birthday.
Hundreds turned out to rename this block after the musician.
And just how excited was everyone?
After a string snafu during the street sign unveiling, one enterprising and athletic fan climbed the lamp post to make sure this stretch between Riverside and West End officially became Miles Davis Way.
Santana and Friends Team to Save Coltrane Home
Benefit planned to open residence where “A Love Supreme” was written to the public
By Emily Hutton
The Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, N.Y., where the late saxophonist John Coltrane lived from 1964-67, Long Island has long been deemed historic. The Long Island home is not only where Coltrane and his wife, Alice, raised their children, but it is also where Coltrane composed A Love Supreme. Now, according a press release, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the Coltrane residence “one of the most endangered historic places in the country,” and Carlos Santana and friends are stepping in to help.
This is meant to be a bleak time for young people and words, as an entire generation is assailed by “death of journalism” notices and financial catastrophe. Yet economic collapse can bring opportunities. When there are no jobs to be had at established magazines, and when the spectre of student debt makes further study impossible, you can either despair or you can, like a growing number of New York graduates, just set up your own thing.
Publishing is undergoing something genuinely exciting in New York, a new, post-digital dawn in which a web-literate and politically engaged generation is re-energising journalism with fierce-thinking in stylish print and online publications; it’s from them that we’ll take our next generation of household-name writers.
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