Friends of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert presents the 35th Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert. Featuring Terri Lyne Carrington; honoring Andy McGhee and Steve Schwartz; hosted by Eric Jackson. Saturday, November 3, 7:30 pm. Tickets (prices include box office service charge): $35 general admission, students $30; special VIP section: $40. Northeastern University, Blackman Theatre, Ell Hall, 360 Huntington Ave., Boston MA 02115. Wheelchair accessible. For tickets, visit or call: 617-373-4700 (TTY 617-373-2184); box office hours Mon.-Fri., noon–6pm (extended to 8 pm on Wed.), and one hour before the performance; or log onto http://www.jcmc.neu.edu.
The 35th anniversary of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert (JCMC) features 2012 Grammy-Award winning master drummer, composer, arranger, record producer and entrepreneur Terri Lyne Carrington. In JCMC tradition, WGBH’s Eric Jackson presides over this year's concert which honors Steve Schwartz, highly acclaimed jazz producer and radio personality, and Andy McGhee, master saxophonist and educator recognized as Boston's "golden man of jazz."
This year’s John Coltrane Memorial Ensemble features some of the leading musicians of our time who also happen to be Boston-based. Along with long time JCMC core members Bill Pierce (reeds/woodwinds), Carl Atkins (reeds/woodwinds), Stan Strickland (reeds/woodwinds), John Lockwood (acoustic bass) and Tim Ingles (electric bass), this year’s concert will feature the first time appearances of pianist Consuelo Candelaria-Barry and guitarist/composer Bill Banfield, who also serves as Head of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music. The 35th anniversary Ensemble also includes JCMC co-founder and co-producer Leonard Brown (reeds/woodwinds), as well as Ricardo Monzon (percussion), JCMC co-producer Emmett G. Price III (piano/keyboards), and special guest Terri Lyne Carrington on drums.
The 2012 Ensemble will perform a repertoire of all Coltrane compositions, including “Moment’s Notice,” “Central Park West, “ “Impressions”, “After the Rain,” The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost,” and a ‘Trane blues medley. In what has become a JCMC tradition, the Ensemble will close with “Peace on Earth.”
John Coltrane Memorial Concert, the world’s oldest annual performance tribute to the musical & spiritual legacy of John Coltrane, is presented by the Friends of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert, Inc. (FJCMC). Producers of the concert are Leonard Brown and Emmett G. Price III. [Take note that due to unforeseen circumstances, Pharoah Sanders will not be appearing this year.]
The John Coltrane Memorial Concert is proud to acknowledge this year’s sponsors which at press time are the Friends of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert (FJCMC), joined by The Arts Fuse (www.artsfuse.org), Color Magazine (www.colormagazineusa.com), JazzBoston (www.jazzboston.org), Jazz Inside (www.jazzinsidemagazine.com), MassJazz (www.massjazz.com), Northeastern University’s Department of African American Studies (www.northeastern.edu/daas/), and The Word Boston (www.thewordboston.com). For updates on sponsors and other pertinent information: www.jcmc.neu.edu, (617) 671-0789, [email protected].
“Coltrane (still) draws a crowd … With 14 impeccably improvisational musicians
leading the liturgy and several Boston jazz fixtures beatified throughout the course of the night,
this year’s Coltrane tribute was like a Sunday morning service on Saturday night.”
(Boston Globe, 2011)
The 35th Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert is also being produced in association with "Harvard Honors Jazz Heroes: Steve Schwartz, Eric Jackson and Fred Taylor," a panel discussion on November 1 and concert on November 2 presented by Office for the Arts at Harvard and Harvard Jazz Bands. Information: 617.495.8676, www.ofa.fas.harvard.edu.
Friends of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert (FJCMC) Legacy
John Coltrane inspired many, no matter the community or culture, to achieve musical, spiritual, and humanitarian heights never thought possible. The Boston-based Friends of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert, Inc. (FJCMC), originally established as John Coltrane Memorial Concert in 1977 and recently incorporated in 2012, presents the 35th annual recognition of Coltrane’s spiritual and musical legacy. The first concert was performed in Boston on the Sunday evening of the 10th year anniversary of Coltrane’s death, July 17, 1977, in the Friends of Great Black Music Loft, a performance space for creative arts established by master percussionist Syd Smart. The concert developed through the collective efforts of Syd Smart, bassist Hayes Burnet, and saxophonist Leonard Brown.
These musicians believed that:
--African American musicians should exert leadership in perpetuating, expanding, enhancing and defining the musical traditions of African American people.
--John Coltrane was one of the most remarkable musicians in history and worthy of a memorial tribute.
--The community of both listeners and musicians has a continued deep and abiding interest in and love for Coltrane's music.
They organized a concert honoring Coltrane that featured exciting, beautiful and moving renditions of his musical compositions. The attendance and response was so overwhelming that a decision was made to hold the concert annually. Since then, the John Coltrane Memorial Concert (JCMC) has gradually developed into a Boston tradition featuring many outstanding musicians.
Before coming to Northeastern University in 1986, the JCMC had several "homes". By the early 1980's it had outgrown the seating audience capacity of the Loft , moving to the Modern Theatre for one year and then to Emmanuel Church till 1985 when it was held at New England Life Hall.
In 1986, the JCMC came to Northeastern University, where it has been in residence over the past 26 years, providing the greater Boston and Cambridge communities with outstanding and memorable musical experiences. The Friends of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert (FJCMC) was incorporated as a separate entity in 2012. FJCMC is taking this opportunity to express sincere thanks to the law office of Wilmer Hale for its role in establishing this newly formed FJCMC, with special acknowledgements given to Stephen Olesky, Hal J. Leibowitz, Amy Segal and Jordan Schwartz.
The annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert has a tradition of presenting world class musicians and creative artists. The list includes Kamau Adilifu, Ahmad Alaadeen, De Ama Battle and the Art of Black Dance and Music, Amiri Baraka, Bill Barron, Gary Bartz, Edith and Alvin Batiste, Brother Blue, Cecil Bridgewater, Anthony Brown's Asian American Orchestra, Terri Lyne Carrington, George Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Carlos Cordova, Alan Dawson, Santi Debriano, Bill Dixon, Frank Foster, Guru's Jazzmatazz, Michael Harper, Nat Hentoff, Giovanni Hildago, Manenque Hildago, Yusef Lateef, Cecil McBee, Andy McGhee, Mulgrew Miller, Nancy Ostrovsky, Danilo Perez, Ralph Peterson, George Russell, Phaorah Sanders, Shirley Scott, Cecilia Smith, and McCoy Tyner.
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