Coltrane 100 Philly: Citywide Events & Live Performances Honoring a Jazz Legend

What to Expect for Coltrane 100 Philly

Coltrane 100 Philly, featuring more than 28 marquee concerts and community events, seeks to honor the jazz legend on his 100th birthday. 

The festivities began in earnest on July 22, 2026 when his Grammy-nominated son, Ravi Coltrane, performed alongside The Philadelphia Orchestra at Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts. 

Highlights of the year-long tribute include:

• The Karen Smith Experience at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Philly-based percussionist and drummer Karen Smith, aka “Magic Fingaz,” hosts a Coltrane-inspired tribute concert (September 5, 2026).
• A LOVE Park Supreme at LOVE Park: A live outdoor listening experience, saluting one of Coltrane’s best-known albums, A Love Supreme (September 21 to 25, 2026). 
• Collier Plays Coltrane at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Chicago bandleader Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few perform innovative interpretations and original compositions (September 25, 2026). 
• Jazz Under the Stars at Highmark Mann: Brothers Kirk and Kevin Whalum reprise Kirk’s 2012 album Romantic Language, an ode to Coltrane’s 1963 collaboration with Johnny Hartman (September 30, 2026).
• 60th Anniversary Concert of Coltrane’s Offering at the Temple Performing Arts Center: First recorded at Temple University’s Mitten Hall in 1967, Offering remains a masterpiece, a 90-minute set of genre-bending jazz — all reimagined at the place where it happened (November 12, 2026). 

Mosaic mural near the John Coltrane House   — Photo by Visit Philadelphia

For a complete calendar of all ticketed performances and community events centered around Coltrane 100 Philly, click the button below.

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Coltrane’s Philadelphia Story

John Coltrane, born on September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential jazz musicians in the history of American music.  

In 1943, a 17-year-old Coltrane moved to Philadelphia (living with friends and family members), immersing himself in the city’s vibrant jazz scene and honing his craft. 

Eventually, Coltrane found his own sound (modal jazz), breaking off from the traditional bebop that he grew up listening to and performing. 

Coltrane purchased a three-story rowhouse in North Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood — now a National Historic Landmark, at 1511 N. 33rd Street — where he mentored under the great Thelonious Monk.

  — Photo by Visit Philadelphia

The legendary saxophonist ushered in a new generation of jazz after achieving international fame playing in bands alongside Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. 

John Coltrane died of cancer in 1967, but released roughly 25 albums before his death. He was honored with a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992.