A double jazz celebration! John Coltrane would have turned one hundred in 2026, and Alice Coltrane ninety in 2027. Both icons and perpetual innovators on their instruments remain points of reference for today’s artists. Ancienne Belgique and Bozar are joining forces for a unique tribute to John Coltrane. This concert will take place at Ancienne Belgique.Elin ForkelidThe name Elin Forkelid (SE) came to our attention via the superb album Ensamseglaren by the twelve-piece ensemble Anna Högberg Attack, of which Forkelid is part. The Swedish saxophonist also regularly performs with Mats Gustafsson’s FIRE! Orchestra. She named her own band Elin Forkelid Plays For Trane as a tribute to... you guessed it! Her quintet draws mainly from Coltrane’s later, ‘freer’ oeuvre, that found its home on Impulse! Records and, not coincidentally, bore the bassline The House That Trane Built. Think: the work on (posthumous) albums like Meditations, Expression, Impressions, Transition, A Love Supreme, Sun Ship or Cosmic Music. 23 September 2026, the very day on which Coltrane would have turned 100, will see the release of Plays For Trane vol. 2.James Brandon Lewis & Chad TaylorThe résumé of American saxophonist James Brandon Lewis (USA) reads like the ultimateletter of recommendation. Legend Sonny Rollins, who rarely offers praise and was moved by Lewis’ “deep, spirit-seeking sound”, remarked: “When I listen to Lewis, I listen to Buddha, I listen to Confucius … I listen to the deeper meaning of life.” Master guitarist Marc Ribot rightly described him as “a keeper of the legacy of John Coltrane”. His versatility is outright impressive: he has already turned up in acclaimed concert series Jazz Is Dead with a stunning rendition of Donny Hathaway’s Someday We’ll All Be Free. On his album For Mahalia, With Love, he paid tribute to gospel legend Mahalia Jackson, and with former members of the legendary post-hardcore band Fugazi he formed the much-talked-about The Messthetics. Coincidence or not: both their self-titled debut from 2024 and its follow-up Deface the Currency (2026) were released on Impulse! Records, Coltrane’s safe haven in the sixties. With drummer Chad Taylor, he made the album Radiant Imprints in 2018, “inspired by the legacy of the greats who have passed on whose shoulders we stand on”. Their drums/sax line-up clearly refers to the collaboration between John Coltrane and drummer Rashied Ali, as heard on the posthumously released Coltrane album Interstellar Space. Radiant Imprints rightly found its place in The New York Times’ Best Jazz Albums of 2018
