L I S T E N:
The Coltrane Legacy at Earshot Jazz Festival
The world famous Earshot Jazz Festival begins this Friday October 16, and will continue on for three music-filled weeks, bringing in some of the best jazz acts in the nation. Don’t let the fact that this event is streaming fool you into believing that it’s not worth your time. As per usual, Earshot has managed to bring in a truly exciting mix of musicians, from innovative newbies to industry veterans.
This year the festival opens up with a bit of a theme: the legacy of the Coltranes. An excerpt from the Festival Director explains: “The iconic saxophonist, John Coltrane, came to represent a musical movement in the 1960s that opened jazz as a path toward spiritual transcendence in a time of great cultural unrest. That path continued with the pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane, and burns brightly to this day in Ravi Coltrane and the project he’ll bring to this year’s festival, with the harpist Brandee Younger and the quartet. The incredible young saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin carries that tradition further forward with her ensemble, named after a Coltrane composition, Pursuance . Their opening weekend concerts will set the tone and the spirit of this year’s festival.” As Earshot also points out, “The music (of John Coltrane) is a riveting fit for Benjamin’s talents: her saxophone tone is not dissimilar to John’s; her spirit not disconnected from Alice’s.” Check out the full festival roster here.