John Coltrane

Ocotber 8, 2018. It’s very easy for friends to become chosen family in the City of Brotherly Love. Terell Stafford, Dick Oatts, Bruce Barth, Tim Warfield, David Wong and Byron Landham created Family Feeling not only because of jazz scene ties, but by the camaraderie that comes from being part of the Temple University family.

July 9, 2018.  New music from John Coltrane!  I bet you thought you’d never hear that again—until this recording from 1963 surfaced. Trane and his classic quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones were on the cusp of a transformation. In John Coltrane: Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album you can hear it from the first notes.

Even in a musical genre built on distinctive personality—jazz—the sound of Trane soars above. His tenor saxophone was unlike anything anyone had ever heard, then or since, and you voted him your No. 5 Most Essential Jazz Artist.

It's hard to believe, but September 23rd marks 91 years since the birth of John Coltrane, who left us way too soon in 1967 at age 40; that makes 50 years since his passing. So it's a good time, we think, to gather together and remember one of Philadelphia’s favorite former residents.

WRTI 90.1 will feature the five-hour radio documentary Tell Me How Long Trane’s Been Gone, produced by Temple University and WRTI alumnus Steve Rowland, from September 20th through the 24th, every night from 8 until 9 pm.