Bio

Michelle Coltrane, daughter of Alice and John, is a vocalist, composer, and  Executive Board member of the John & Alice Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, New York.   Born in Paris, her immersion in music began at an early age with violin, viola, and clarinet lessons.  Around the same time she began singing in the ashram, chanting divine music led by her mother.  Every Sunday for over thirty years, Turiya (her mother’s spiritual moniker) led the Bhajans, or devotional songs, while playing organ with the congregation.

 

Becoming a professional musician as a teenager, Michelle began to travel all over the world.  In her mid twenties she worked as a DJ in Japan and later was commissioned to write the song “Color the Night” for the country’s Space World Amusement Park.  Also while in Tokyo, she explored her talents as a voice actress (she was featured in two popular Chevrolet commercials), and arranged and performed background vocals in studios around town.  She toured as a background vocalists for some of the industry’s most high profile acts and would perform frequently with her own band.  Toward the end of her stay in Japan, Coltrane’s group was featured at the “Officers Club” in Tokyo.

 

Upon returning to her hometown of Los Angeles, Michelle would co-host the radio program “Straight No Chaser” with Maggie LePique.  Running for five years on 90.7 KPFK, the two interviewed Charlie Haden, Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones, and Stanley Clarke among others.  

 

Having spent formative years honing her talent and building connections, it was high time for Michelle to break out as a solo artist.  She recorded her debut album I Think of You in collaboration with Scott Hiltzik and  featured saxophonist Ronnie Laws.  The blend of classic and contemporary jazz won Michelle a YES Award and was acclaimed by Jazz Times.  

 

In 2017 she released her sophomore album Awakening The record displays that Coltrane’s “vocal skills are beyond dispute and her vision is clear and intact” according to All About Jazz It presents what Downbeat calls a “poised, confident singing style [with] considerable scatting prowess.”  The eleven-song album on Blujazz Productions features collaborations with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Gerry Gibbs,  Ravi Coltrane, and co-producer by Shea Welsh.  Awakening was in the top ten on the National Jazz Charts in 2017. 

 

Michelle continues to perform and work on new material regularly.  Past and present collaborators include, Cameron Graves, Kamasi Washington, Shea Welsh, Edwin Livingston, Abe Lagrimas, Teodross Avery, Alex Collins, Ramon Yslas, Jerome Avant, Ryan Cross, Tim Lefebvre, Mahesh Balalsooriya, Surya Botofasina, Kenny Kirkland, Jeff Watts, Ronnie Laws,  Gerry Gibbs, Gerry Allen, Jack DeJohnette, Marvin Smitty Smith, Reggie Workman, Lonnie Plaxico, Jeremy Pelt, Dezron Douglas, and the McCoy Tyner Trio.   In support of her solo music she’s performed at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland, Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood, Vibrato’s in Bel Air, The John Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles, The Jacobs Center in San Diego, The Jazz Standard in New York, The Side Door in Connecticut, The Miami Jazz Festival, The Panama Jazz Festival, The Montreux Jazz Festival, The Fort Bend Indiana Jazz Festival, and The John Coltrane International Jazz & Blues Festival in North Carolina.

 

Outside of her solo career, Michelle notably performed and toured with the Sai Anatam Ashram Singers.  The ensemble, made up of members of her mother Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda’s spiritual group, played around the world following the re-release of Alice Coltrane’s music on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label.  The album, World Spirituality Classics 1, reached the top of the Billboard charts in multiple categories and was celebrated with a culminating performance at the Red Bull Music Academy Festival in Los Angeles in 2018.

 

Presently, Michelle is Chief Creative Officer at thecoltranehome.org  The home (deemed a Historical Landmark by the National Trust for Historic Preservation) is located in Dix Hills, Long Island, and is the former residence of Michelle, her brothers, and her late parents.  It is the site of some of John and Alice Coltrane’s landmark studio recordings and where A Love Supreme was written.   The Coltrane Home organization is dedicated to bringing music education and awareness to the community at large and, as a non-profit, works to provide services and learning tools for young people and adults in developing their love and understanding of jazz and the Coltrane legacy.

 

Michelle’s goal is to keep performing and recording music while supporting programs that elevate the creative arts.  In all that she does as a  jazz ambassador, she continues to share the Coltrane family’s message of universal consciousness.