Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane (with Eric Dolphy)

Today we’re listening to John Coltrane, an American saxophonist and composer from North Carolina. Born in 1926, Coltrane picked up sax in high school, and after serving in the navy moved to Philadelphia where he would meet his idol Charlie Parker and future collaborator Miles Davis.¹ A few weeks ago, a Coltrane record called Evenings at the Village Gate was released. The album’s recordings were made in 1961 with fellow saxophonist Eric Dolphy, at The Village Gate in New York’s Greenwich Village.² The tapes were unearthed only a few years ago from the archives of the New York Public Library, whose blog published a deep dive on the story behind the rediscovery. If you’re new to Coltrane’s melodious flutter, we’re also playing Blue Train from 1958, a cooler jazz album put out by Blue Note Records.