Third Annual Coltrane Day Music Festival Set for Today

On Saturday, July 22rd 2:00PM - 10:30 PM, The Coltrane Home in Dix Hills in conjunction with the Town of Huntington Summer Arts Festival and the Huntington Arts Council will be staging an all-day, affordable, family-friendly festival of live music and music workshops in beautiful Heckscher Park, Huntington Village. "Building Community through Music" and "The Creative Force" are this year's themes as the event celebrates the legacies of music giants John and Alice Coltrane, who lived in Dix Hills.

The Festival will host workshops, master-classes, community jams and live performances for all ages and levels. World-class LIVE music performances, including jazz, funk, blues, hip-hop, gospel, electronic music and jamband will be featured, with top local music talent on display. Headliners include Charles Neville (Neville Brothers) and sax phenom Kenny Garrett. Local arts and food are included along with many opportunities for young musicians to play with professionals. Special this year, electric bass giant, Matt Garrison, will lead a master class workshop for aspiring bassists. Matt Garrison is also one of the headliners of the day's music lineup.

The workshops and community jams, huge successes at the inaugural 2015 and 2016 festivals, are sure to be highpoints once again as musicians, young and old get to sit in with peers and professionals in a supportive environment. Workshops for a wide range of ages and skills will be available, including jazz, funk, blues, hip-hop, electronic music, voice, songwriting, percussion, music improvisation, and more. The Community Jam - enormously popular in the last two years at the festival - is coming back once again in jazz and funk. Coaches will also be available offering one-on-one assistance to aspiring musicians. Additional information will be announced in the coming weeks and pre-registration for workshops is strongly encouraged. (Registration Links Below!) Workshops run from 12noon to 2PM.

More About The Coltrane Home: A little over fifty years ago, Coltrane's opus work, "A Love Supreme", considered by many music enthusiasts and jazz critics to be among the most influential pieces of music of the 20th century, was composed at their Dix Hills home. The Coltranes moved into the Home in 1964. (After John's passing in 1967, Alice sold the Home in 1973 and moved to Los Angeles.) The Home was slated for demolition until jazz enthusiast and Dix Hills resident Steven Fulgoni helped publicize the significance of the property. In 2004 an outpouring of support from around the world, including letters from Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, and many others persuaded the Town of Huntington to purchase the property and convert the site into a park. The Home was placed in the hands of "The Friends of the Coltrane Home in Dix Hills" - aka "The Coltrane Home in Dix Hills".

According to Friends of the Coltrane Home President Ron Stein, saving and restoring the Home is the right thing to do. "John Coltrane is revered as a music god across all music genres, generations and around the globe. It's as if Beethoven had composed his Ninth Symphony right here on Long Island. People around the world will recognize Dix Hills, Huntington and Long Island as the Home of John Coltrane. This place is a Long Island gem." Continues Stein, "His legacy is more than his music. His desire to use music as a force for good, his embracing of diversity, his kindness, and his work ethic and commitment to excellence set an inspirational model for all of us."

The Home is also a national gem. In 2011, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated the Home as one of the "Eleven-most Endangered Properties" in the United States, a designation only given to properties deemed to have critical cultural importance. Since that time, the "Friends" have made many improvements to stabilize and repair the Home, but much more needs to be done. The Coltrane Day Event will provide an opportunity for the Home to announce a major capital campaign to create a Cultural Center on the beautiful site.

The dual mission. The Coltrane Home has a dual mission: a) restore the Dix Hills Home and create a state-of-the art museum and inspirational learning and cultural center at the site, along with a beautiful park environment, and b) develop its Legacy Education Project to help encourage young people to engage in the creative music making process, and improve communication and life skills. The theme of the program is "Music for Life".

2017 also marks the 52nd anniversary of the Town of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council's Summer Arts Festival, and is testament to the importance of Huntington's commitment to arts and music. The Huntington Arts Council is assisting The Coltrane Home in Dix Hills to present the Music Festival. The day's program is also partially funded by a Suffolk County Community Arts grant from the Department of Economic Development and Planning.

The Coltrane Home in Dix Hills hopes to attract all members of the Long Island community and beyond to this event. As Alice Coltrane has intimated in the past, this is about bringing everyone together to make, and enjoy music.

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