1966. Frank Sinatra. The Beatles. The Righteous Brothers. Stevie Wonder. Petula Clark. Bob Dylan. The formation of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Music was coming from all directions....enter John Coltrane.
After an extensive career as a sideman and then 1960's bandleader, Trane's sonic explorations led him to push the envelope of what was popularly called jazz. His multi-dimensional experiments with scales, instrumentation, and format forever extended the boundaries of jazz.
On November 11, 1966 John Coltrane was arguably at the height of his spiritual journey and performed a concert on Temple University's main campus in Mitten Hall. His group included Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Johnson, and Rashied Ali. This powerhouse lineup delivered a concert to be remembered; and if you were there, you were part of history. If not, you were part of miss-story.
Fast forward 48 years to today, September 23, 2014, and we mark what would have been Trane's 88th birthday and the release of Offering: Live at Temple University; that 1966 performance from Mitten Hall, now available for all to hear, for the first time in 48 years.
For virtually everyone, it will be the new music from John Coltrane - a birthday gift for all of us.