The celebration of the centenary of John Coltrane, born on September 23, 1926, is the starting point for the meeting of two iconic figures of contemporary jazz: Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves. The saxophonist and the vocalist have taken as their reference a very special recording in Coltrane’s discography, the one he co-starred in with vocalist Johnny Hartman (1963). It is undoubtedly not one of the saxophonist’s canonical albums like A Love Supreme, but it is the unquestionable soundtrack for many people who have sought comfort more than once in the tenderness of Hartman’s voice alongside Coltrane. The challenge for Dianne Reeves and the Branford Marsalis Quartet (with Joey Calderazzo, Eric Revis, and Justin Faulkner) is therefore enormous, and it will also result in a record that is expected to be released on Blue Note this autumn. The Barcelona date is, moreover, the only one in the Iberian Peninsula and marks the beginning of the European tour of this project.
