Cosmic Frequencies: Happy Birthday, John Coltrane

Some birthdays are more than just a way of marking time. They are resonant birthdays, vibrating through the center of the universe. And so it is today, for today is saxophonist John Coltrane’s birthday, the man who turned sound into a language for the spirit to speak.

His music has always seemed to be some sort of communication from elsewhere. ‘Giant Steps’ dashing across impossible harmonic ground, ‘A Love Supreme’ chanting towards the divine, ‘Interstellar Space’ throwing sparks into the void– this wasn’t just jazz, this was a conversation of the cosmos.

We’re partying hard here at RadioPeng. Gianni Papa, our brother-in-sound from London, is doing the same – putting the show on fire with Coltrane. More a pilgrim than just a fan. To nodding heads through smoky London clubs, dedicated to Coltrane’s songs to a series of night-time sonic séances for the saxophonist’s lost spirit, that Atlantic really does narrow every time the lights go down for ‘Trane. Shrivels to nothing when ‘Trane plays: Palermo, Roanoke, London, the cosmos- all vibrating on the same frequency.

The necessity of Trane is that restless pursuit. He could have settled for most people’s ‘Naima’ or ‘My Favorite Things.’ He wasn’t. He was going after something: chaos, prayer, mathematics, light. He built sound bridges to places we still don’t have names for.
So put a record on today. Light a candle. Be it Gianni Papa speaking in London or RadioPeng roaring in Roanoke, the message is the same:
Happy Birthday, Trane! The universe is still tuning in.