Leading an all-star group of New Orleans artists, Tony Dagradi again directs our annual tribute to saxophonist, John Coltrane. Dagradi will be joined by Khari Allen Lee, Roderick Paulin, Victor Adkins, James Singleton, and Herlin Riley.
John Coltrane was, after Charlie Parker, the most revolutionary and widely imitated saxophonist in jazz. After internships with Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Hodges, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, Coltrane began a prolific recording and performing career. His early work focused on the standard repertoire common to most jazz artists. However, he relentlessly moved the music forward artistically and technically. In the mid 1960s Coltrane turned to increasingly radical musical styles. His search for new sounds resulted in frequent changes of personnel. In his final years and after his death, Coltrane has acquired an almost saintly reputation among listeners and fellow musicians for his passionate religious convictions, peaceful demeanor and obsessive striving for a musical ideal.
