Broadcast on 23-Sep-2013

This feature is to honour the 87th Birthday of one of the most exciting, creative and influential musicians of the 20th Century namely John William Coltrane. Coltrane was under an exclusive recording contract with Prestige Records from 1957 to the end of 1958 however he was allowed to record this one date for Blue Note Records and the label's owner Alfred Lion made the most out of it by giving Coltrane a chance to not only record his own composition but write them for a three horn front line and of course pick the men to do this. Lion also paid for two days of rehearsal to get the music together. This was unheard of at the other label.The date was one of Coltrane's personal favourites and is considered a classic. The people involved are Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Curtis Fuller on trombone, the teenage trumpet sensation, Lee Morgan, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The tunes are all by Coltrane (Blue Train, Moment's Notice, Locomotion, Lazy Bird) and the ballad of the set written by Kern and Mercer: "I'm Old Fashioned". Blue Train stands out in the history of Coltrane's legacy and is clearly his best from his early period. Happy Birthday Mr. Coltrane.