Events

On Tuesday 11 June, saxophonist Dan Forshaw brings his Coltrane @100 project to Matt & Phreds, returning home to the North West for a concert shaped by history, memory and renewal.

This performance forms part of Forshaw’s year-long tribute marking 100 years since the birth of John Coltrane. Rather than isolating a single period, the programme traces Coltrane’s full creative arc — from the hard-driving energy of Blue Train, through the harmonic urgency of Giant Steps and Impressions, to the spiritual force of A Love Supreme. Along the way, the music reflects Coltrane’s work with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, and even touches on his earliest recorded years in the US Navy Band.

For Forshaw, this Manchester date carries particular weight. Originally from the North West, he sees this concert not simply as a tour stop, but as a homecoming. It also marks a reunion with musicians who were central to his formative years: Mike Taylor on piano and J Hoy on drums, both members of Forshaw’s quartet from two decades ago. That shared musical history brings an added depth to the performance — a long conversation resumed, rather than a new one begun.

Forshaw’s approach to Coltrane is rooted in more than repertoire. As a long-time scholar of Coltrane’s work, he is drawn to the values beneath the music: discipline, humility and constant development. Coltrane’s legacy, he argues, only survives if it remains alive — questioned, reshaped and re-played in the present tense.

This is not a retrospective exercise. The trio treats Coltrane’s music as living material, responsive and open, shaped by the room and the moment. For long-time listeners and new audiences alike, this concert offers a rare chance to hear Coltrane’s music through the lens of experience, friendship and return.

A homecoming. A reunion. And a living tribute.