This week marks what would have been John Coltrane’s 100th birthday on September 23, making it a perfect time to revisit some rare footage of one of the greatest artists in jazz history. Captured at the Comblain-la-Tour Festival in Belgium in 1965, the 38-minute film features Coltrane alongside McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones—the legendary quartet at the height of its powers.
Recorded just months after the release of A Love Supreme, the footage captures the group pushing its music toward increasingly intense and exploratory territory. The set includes “Vigil,” “Naima” and a nearly 20-minute “My Favorite Things,” with “Vigil” standing out as a particularly ferocious showcase of Coltrane and Elvin Jones locked into a relentless musical conversation.
With relatively little quality live footage of Coltrane surviving, this film takes you back and puts you there.