John & Alice Coltrane Home

 John Coltrane was born in 1926. During the summer of 1943 he moved to Philadelphia and by early 1945 was working locally as a clarinet and alto saxophone player. Coltrane enlisted in the Navy that same summer. Returning home after a short service, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill’s education opportunities to pursue training at Ornstein School of Music. Philly’s jazz clubs were John’s oyster as he played almost every room in town.

By the end of the 50s, having put in years with Monk and Davis, Coltrane was more than ready to breakout as a bandleader and composer. 1959’s “Giant Steps”, his first album of all original compositions, was an astounding breakout work.

In 1961, he moved to Dix hills with his second wife Alice. It was in the attic of this home that John composed the American masterpiece “A Love Supreme.” Beyond the traditional family rooms, where their four children were raised, there were spaces for meditation, practicing, and a fully equipped recording studio where Alice made her landmark Impulse! Records albums. The Coltrane family lived at this home until 1973.

The mid-century ranch style house was constructed in 1952 on a 3.4-acre lot. In 2004, facing demolition, the structure was saved by a group of volunteers that became the Friends of the John and Alice Coltrane Home of Dix Hills, Inc. By 2005, The Town of Huntington purchased the property and transferred the deed to the Friends. The Home was listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2007. In 2011, it was listed as one of eleven “Most Endangered” places and in 2018 was deemed a “National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.”

The future plans for the John and Alice Coltrane Home are to make it a multifaceted space for immersion in history, education, creativity, and entertainment.

 

Source:

The John and Alice Coltrane Home, thecoltranehome.org/. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024