Sept. 23 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of music legend John Coltrane. Jazz pianist Zach Bartholomew celebrates the centennial at Arts Bonita on Nov. 19. With “A Centennial Celebration,” Bartholomew promises a comprehensive journey through Coltrane’s transformative work.
“I’m going to feature music from different eras of his career,” said Bartholomew.
Coltrane’s music defied categorization. His catalog transcended genre, generation and geography, reshaping the idiom and intention of music.
“He has … a few distinctive eras of his music,” Bartholomew observed. “Early on, it’s very virtuosic. It’s called his sheets of sound … when he was playing with Miles Davis. Very much in the tradition of jazz, he had a really distinctive tone.”
Bartholomew is referring to “Blue Train,” Coltrane’s breakout album on Blue Note. During “Centennial Celebration,” audiences will also hear selections from his crossover albums “My Favorite Things” and “A Love Supreme.”
“A lot of non-jazz people … gravitated to his mid to later things because it was … very melodic and very emotional and you could connect to … the energy and spirituality,” Bartholomew noted.
These intensely expressive free-form works continue to influence everything from jazz and classical to hip hop and experimental music.
“It's this really beautiful storytelling and even the way the sound he would get out of the instrument, the way he would play these melodies, they're just very, it's very moving,” added Bartholomew.
MORE INFORMATION:
John Coltrane was born Sept. 23, 1926. He started out on clarinet and alto horn as a teenager, but quickly moved to saxophone. He moved to Philadelphia, where he came of age as a jazz musician performing and recording in the early 1950s as a sideman with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis.
Coltrane traversed a remarkable progression in style over the course of his career. By the mid-1960s, he had become a pioneer of avant-garde jazz. With more than 100 hours of recorded material, Coltrane’s signature sound continues to shape generations of musicians and music lovers.
“His is one of the most important catalogs in the history of American music,” said Bartholomew, “especially for jazz saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone.”
Grammy and Latin Grammy award-winning saxophonist Dave Fernandez returns to Arts Bonita in the role of Coltrane in “A Centennial Celebration.”
“Anytime I can work with Dave, I try to, because he's that good,” Bartholomew noted. “He's on my album and he can do everything, so we've done a lot of shows together.”
In fact, Fernandez and Bartholomew have collaborated not only on song selection, but also on their arrangements of the music they’ll play on Nov. 19.
“The whole band is going to be coming from Miami,” Bartholomew continued. “The Nov. 19 show is going to feature Brandon Lee Lewis, the drummer, who was here in October. He's already done a number of other John Coltrane centennial observances across the country, so he really knows Elvin Jones [who was part of Coltrane’s post-bop quartet and appeared in 'My Favorite Things,' 'A Love Supreme,' 'Ascension' and 'Live at Birdland']. So he’s playing the drummer for us.”
“And then Jamie Owsley, who's the chair of the jazz department at FIU, is playing bass.
Bartholomew said that the “Centennial Celebration” will be special not just because it’s Coltrane, but because of the breadth and diversity of his music.
“There's a lot of variety in there, which means there’s a lot of opportunity from a creative standpoint through how we arrange the songs we select to personalize it and make it our own,” Bartholomew pointed out. “So that's going to be a really, really fun and special show, celebrating his 100th year birthday.”
More on artist in residence program
As artist in residence, Bartholomew partners with Arts Bonita to deliver diverse world-class jazz and jazz-adjacent programming to its audiences. Every concert has its own distinct theme with music written and arranged specifically for that performance. For each show, Bartholomew assembles outstanding musicians from around the country who travel to Arts Bonita to bring his artistic vision to life.
As part of the residency, Bartholomew also collaborates with the Arts Bonita Films As Fine Art Series and Lunch & Lecture Series to present multimedia events and educational offerings.
Bartholomew’s October show featured the music of Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderly. For more, visit WGCU.org.
About Zach Bartholomew
Zach Bartholomew is an award-winning jazz pianist, composer, and music educator. He is based in Miami, where he maintains an active performance career as one of the most heavily sought-after pianists, accompanists, and sidemen in the area. In both 2016 and 2017, he placed as one of the top three finalists in the highly acclaimed Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition and more recently has been featured as a performer, composer, and bandleader at various national and international jazz festivals, including the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Jalisco Jazz Festival, and Festival Miami, among others. He and his band have been featured on radio broadcasts, concert series, and regionally promoted events at music venues all over Florida. He has performed with professional organizations such as the Sarasota Pops Orchestra and the Naples Philharmonic.
In addition to his active performance career, Bartholomew is a music professor at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, Broward College, and Tiffin University and has been featured as a presenter and performer at national and regional music conferences.
As a band leader, Bartholomew has taken his band on multiple national tours, headlining at some of the top jazz venues in the country. He has performed as a sideman with artists such as Sean Jones, Victor Goines, Brian Lynch, Dafnis Prieto, Dave Holland, David Liebman, Ira Sullivan, Carmen Bradford, Byron Stripling, Dan Miller, Scotty Barnhart, Cyrille Aimee, John Beasley, Charles Calello, and Kevin Mahogany. He is currently involved in numerous musical projects as both a leader and a sideman. One current project is his Florida “Jazz Access Tour,” a grant-funded outreach program that aims to provide communities and schools in Florida with world-class public performances and educational programs.
About David Fernandez
Fernandez began his career as a jazz musician in Miami. He received a 2023 Grammy for his work on the Best Reggae Album, "The Kalling," by Kabaka Pyramid. His Latin Grammy Award was for his performance on “Made in Miami,” by Richard Bravo and Camilo Valencia.
He first studied jazz at Miami Senior High School under the direction of Brian Leavell. He earned an invitation to New York to perform with the McDonald’s All-American High School Band his senior year. He also won an honorable mention from Downbeat Magazine for best high school performer and won first place for best original composition.
Upon graduation, he enrolled at the University of Miami and earned his bachelor’s degree. Shortly after, he continued his studies at Florida International University under the direction of Gary Campbell and completed his master’s degree.
Fernandez began his career touring with Latin pop star Chayanne. He has also toured with Jon Secada, Gloria Estefan, Darryl Tookes and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. He has shared the stage with Joe Henderson, Paquito D’ Rivera, Randy Brecker, Kenny Werner, Gerry Mulligan, Bob Minzer, Willy Chirino, Nestor Torres, Rafael, The O.J.’s, The Funk Brothers, Peabo Bryson, Nate Smith, Ignacio Berroa, Patti Austin, and Queen Latifa.
He currently has 15 projects released as a leader, “Symmetry,” “TransitionProject,” “Land,” “David Fernandez*,” “Consortium,” “One Man Banned,” “Sketches of Pain,” “Under the Influence,” “Mygration,” “The Big Bandemic,” “At the Palace,” “Blue of Sky,” “Re-Wire,” “Short and Brief,” and “The Lost City.”
* Made possible by a grant from the City of Miami Department of Cultural Affairs.
Fernandez has also won “The Heart of Art” commission for “Land” from The Arsht Performing Arts Center.
Fernandez was also a professor of saxophones at MDC Wolfson and an adjunct professor at MDC-Kendall, MDC West, Barry University, and FIU. He was also Jazz Discipline Coordinator for Young Arts in 2011-2012. He was on the musical “On Your Feet,” in New York City from 2015 to 2018. Fernandez is a proud Jean Paul USA artist.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
