Concert marks 100 years of John Coltrane's legacy, Philadelphia story

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A spectacular concert at Highmark Mann Center for Performing Arts will honor saxophonist John Coltrane, marking what would have been his 100th year.

"Trane" endures as a jazz icon, and his time in Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood is key to his craft and his legend.

On Wednesday night, the crowd at the Mann will surely hear that Coltrane classic, "My Favorite Things", as part of Coltrane 100: Legacy.

There will be upscale concessions and perfect acoustics. The Philadelphia Orchestra will also appear onstage with a special guest: John's son Ravi, who is also a noted saxophonist, like his father.

"If you're thinking about American culture, you have to think about jazz," says famed bassist Gerald Veasley, Curator-in-Residence at the Highmark Mann. "And if you say jazz, you have to say, John Coltrane."

"You know, so it's the 100th birthday, it's a beautiful way to acknowledge that in a grander fashion," agrees Ravi Coltrane.

In some ways, it will be a full circle night:

From the hills of the Mann, you can see the treetops of Strawberry Mansion, where John learned to play as a teen.

He became a great in his own right on our streets, drawing crowds to listen to the music coming out of his open windows.

"We know about his practice sessions," says Prof Anyabwile Love, founder of the John Coltrane symposium. "They were endless. They would listen to him across the street, in the park."

That house on 33rd street is where, in 1957, Coltrane locked himself in a room to go cold turkey.

Come out, he said, spiritually reborn, ready to take the "Giant Steps" of melding the musical and the mystical into a "Love Supreme."

"A world-class orchestra, one of the greatest orchestras in the world, and performing the music of John Coltrane, one of America's greatest composers and musicians, with Ravi Coltrane. I think the elements are there for a historic night," promises Veasley.

For tickets and more information, visit: HighmarkMann.org.