Coltrane Celebration celebrates the life and music of John Coltrane, with this year marking his centennial. The show’s first performance was in 2019 in North Carolina, Coltrane’s home state, while this show is the New York premiere. The show features both arrangements of Coltrane’s music and original music inspired by Coltrane’s life written for 17-piece jazz band by Joseph Herbst.

Spoken word is interwoven throughout the show, bringing to life Coltrane in his own words as the script is all pulled from interviews and writings by Coltrane, allowing those less familiar with Coltrane’s work to be fully immersed as well. While drawing some inspiration from his music directly, the show explores the beliefs, philosophy, and morality of Coltrane as seen in his interviews, resulting in a new experience of Coltrane as a person as well as a musician.

Featured arrangements include “Giant Steps,” “Lonnie’s Lament,” and “After the Rain,” along with compositions inspired by “Equinox,” “Like Sonny,” and “Pursuance.” Join us as we celebrate both a North Carolina and New York icon!

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Hailing from the Carolinas, composer and woodwindist Joseph Herbst uses music as a medium for storytelling. In 2021, he released his debut album, This is Our Environment, bringing together original music, spoken word, and environmental justice. Works in progress include his first big band album, Into the Void of My Dreams, exploring personal change through an original story of a person entering their Dreamworld, and his theatrical show, Ghosts in the Mirror, exploring internalized messages and how we handle them. When not leading his own projects, Joseph works avidly as a copyist with a goal of assisting composers, working with notable figures such as Etienne Charles, Mike Garson, Alan Ferber, Jon Cowherd, Darcy James Argue, and Elio Villafranca. Joseph received the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award (2021, 2023, 2024), the ASCAP Johnny Mandel Prize (2023), and the 24th Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize and Manny Album Commission (2023)