12 Hour Spiritual Jazz Mix: John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Herbie Hancock & More

First and foremost, kudos to NTS embarking on something like this. The London online radio station has created a four part, 12 hour playlist of spiritual jazz that includes everything from John Coltrane and Sun Ra to Herbie Hancock and Gil Scott-Heron.

The timing of the playlist couldn’t be any better, considering Coltrane’s birthday is coming up. He would’ve been 90 years old this coming September 23. There’s also a documentary on Coltrane currently making its round at festivals both national and international.

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary is all about the iconic jazz saxophonist, with the film dedicating a lot of time to the Coltrane’s magnum opus, A Love Supreme.

“This album is a humble offering to him, an attempt to say thank you God. Through our work, even as we do through our hearts and with our tongues. May he help and strengthen all men in every good endeavor,” Denzel Washington states in a trailer for Chasing Trane, speaking to Coltrane’s dedication of A Love Supreme to God.

According to a film synopsis the movie also offers plenty of behind the scenes moments not known to even the most diehard Coltrane fans, humanizing the artist in the process.

“Revolutionary artist and innovator, John Coltrane expanded the frontiers of his craft by introducing elements from musical traditions the world over. Chasing Trane reveals the critical events, passions, experiences, and challenges that shaped the life of John Coltrane and his revolutionary sounds. It is a story of demons and darkness, of persistence and redemption. Above all else, it is the incredible spiritual journey of a man who found himself and, in the process, created an extraordinary body of work that transcends all barriers of geography, race, religion and age.”

Listen to the first part of the mix below, and check out the remaining parts (two, three and four) too.