Declaring September 23, 2001 "John W. Coltrane Day" in The City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Philadelphia’s most noted jazz musician, arranger, composer and Grammy Award Winner, John William Coltrane, was born in Hamlet, North Carolina on September 23, 1926. During his studies at Granoff Studios and the Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia, he realized that the music he was searching for not only existed in the past, present and future but also between the notes of conventional notations; and

WHEREAS, It is documented that John Coltrane was one of the major tenor sax players of his era and, today, remains as influential to many younger musicians. Coltrane arrived in Philadelphia in 1944 and received wide recognition as an integral member of the renowned Miles Davis Sextet. He formed his own group in 1960; and

WHEREAS, Coltrane was constantly searching, probing and looking for new dimensions and heights to climb and, with his horn, was able to speak the language of a people struggling to be free. He influenced the world through the messages within his music and demanded that audiences who left his sets re-examine both their ideas of music and themselves; and

WHEREAS, Coltrane wrote “My goal is to live the truly religious life and express it in my music. If you live it, when you play there’s no problem because the music is just part of the whole thing. To be a musician is really something. It goes very, very deep. My music is the spiritual expression of what I am – my faith, my knowledge, my being.” John William Coltrane, having recycled his learning, from conversations and observations, into lesson plans taught through his horns, died on July 17, 1967; and

WHEREAS, The TraneStop Resource Institute, Inc. was named in the spirit of this Philadelphia legend. Its emergence in 1979 filled a void and gave the City of Philadelphia and the music community its first focused endeavor. The TraneStop provides resources and guidance as a means for studying and appreciating African American Classical Music and for sustaining the connection of the music to its African American roots; and

WHEREAS, In Coltrane’s honor, TraneStop has conducted town meetings, retreats and seminars to explore situations to improve the conditions of African American classical music in Philadelphia. TraneStop’s initiatives seek to honor both the memory of John William Coltrane and other musicians who, having “grew up” and been nurtured within the legendary Philadelphia African American music genre’, are long overdue recognition commensurate with their contributions to the art form; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That September 23, 2001 is declared “John W. Coltrane Day” and that we honor TraneStop Resource Institute in its efforts to ensure jazz preservation as classical music rooted in the African-American experience and as a universal art form-through education.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That Engrossed copies of this resolution be presented to TraneStop Resource Institute, Inc. and a representative of the African American Classical Music Community as evidence of the sincere respect and admiration of this legislative body.

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