Scribe Video Center Presents North Philadelphia History Festival: The John Coltrane Edition | An Archival Centenary Celebration
Submitted on September 3,2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Scribe Video Center Presents North Philadelphia History Festival: The John Coltrane Edition | An Archival Centenary Celebration
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 to SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2026
PHILADELPHIA, September 4, 2026 – In the second annual North Philadelphia History Festival celebrating Black and Puerto Rican cultural histories, Scribe Video Center will showcase John Coltrane’s lasting North Philadelphia legacy with more than a dozen events at community sites throughout North Philly, including the Power Market, Atelier Art Gallery, The Yard on John Coltrane Street and others.
Centering community archives and the theme of Jazz. Spirit. Stories. History, all programs in the three-day festival (Sept. 25 - 27) are free to the public and will include live performances, film screenings, photo, audio, and video exhibitions, oral history installations, tours and more.
“The artists, archivists, historians, and cultural workers selected for North Philadelphia History Festival: The John Coltrane Edition have been exploring Coltrane and his musical and spiritual influence for many decades. Their work and so many of these stories originated in North Philadelphia.” - Louis Massiah, Artistic Director, North Philadelphia History Festival / Scribe Video Center
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Video Installations:
● A Supreme Love | Artist: Steven Berry | A documenter of Philadelphia’s jazz history for many decades, Berry presents excerpts of interviews with 15 musicians including Jimmy Heath, Trudy Pitts, Mr C, Monnette Sudler, Sam Reed, Bobby Zankel and Odean Pope in discussion of John Coltrane, his music, and his influence.
● El Jardin de la Música y El Espíritu | Artists: Anula Shetty and Michael Kuetemeyer of Termite TV and Iris Brown | Las Parcelas Garden in Norris Square is transformed into a Virtual Reality (VR) exhibition exploring traditional Puerto Rican music and its convergence with African American music forms.
● Isis and Osiris | Artist: Ephraim Asili | A two-channel video installation examines Alice Coltrane’s experimentation with the harp, an instrument bequeathed to her by her husband John Coltrane. Featuring Brandee Younger.
● For Us, By Us: A Conversation with Lovett Hines and Cullen Knight | Artists: Christina Jackson and Paul Giess | Hines, the “Dean of music educators” whose students have included Questlove, Christian McBride and Immanuel Wilkins, in conversation with trumpeter, composer, filmmaker, and writer Cullen Knight, both having grown up on Columbia Ave. (now Cecil B. Moore Ave.) when it was The Golden Strip.
● The Spirit Moves – David Murray on John Coltrane | Artist: Dwight Andrews | International virtuoso composer/saxophonist David Murray discusses the Coltrane Quartet’s 1965 Brussels performance.
● What Dreams Are Made Of | Artist: Cedra Walton | The artist remembers her father, pianist Cedar Walton, and his time performing with John Coltrane in the 1950s.
Exhibitions & Programs:
● Been Here All Along: Reflections on the Spirit of John Coltrane | Dr. Diane Turner has captured oral histories of North Philadelphia and Black Philadelphia music since her doctoral work at Temple. With Serkaddis Alemayehu of the Blockson Collection, they present newly recorded interviews alongside archival audio and photos.
● Coltrane 100: The Man & His Music | Leslie Willis-Lowry, lead archivist at the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, presents a photographic narrative of Philadelphia’s jazz music life centering photos of Coltrane and his circle.
● Coltrane on Air | Broadcasters on West Philadelphia’s community radio station WPEB 88.1 FM air a variety of music, interviews, and experimental programs
● Coltrane on Screen | A selection of films produced from 1970 to the present exploring John and Alice Coltrane’s music and spiritual legacy.
● The Discography | Exhibition of album artwork and liner notes of Coltrane’s vast discography.
● Live at the Yard | Two concerts curated by Gerald Veasely of Jazz Philadelphia and Lovett Hines presented at The Yard adjacent to Coltrane’s former home, now a National Historic Landmark.
● Tracing Trane | Jazz historian Faye Anderson leads a bus tour across North Philadelphia to places where John Coltrane lived, performed, recorded, and inspired.
● The Word is The Music: Black Press Digs Deep Into Philly’s Jazz Giants | Archival ephemera curated by Jubilee School students explore the role of Black press in promoting Black music.
“The festival brings together music, history, archives, art, and community to consider the depth of Coltrane’s legacy and why his spiritual and artistic search continues to resonate.” - Leslie Willis-Lowry, Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection
Lead Support for North Philadelphia History Festival: The John Coltrane Edition is provided by the William Penn Foundation, with additional support from Senator Vincent Hughes & Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, People's Media Fund, and the City of Philadelphia. Produced in collaboration with Jazz Philadelphia and Ars Nova.
About Scribe Video Center: Since 1982, Scribe has used electronic media to document issues and ideas affecting diverse economic and cultural communities, create media works that comment on the human condition, and celebrate cultural diversity. Scribe Video Center facilitates new approaches to visual form and language in an effort to further the aesthetics of video making. Through workshops, screenings, and collaborative productions, Scribe empowers underrepresented voices and documents untold histories.
Contact: Brittanie Sterner
215-222-4201 | scribe.org/NPHF
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