By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Saxophone superstar John Coltrane comes to life in Chasing Trane, which kicks off the new season of Independent Lens in November.
Chasing Trane premieres at 9 p.m. Nov. 6 on PBS, but jazz fans can enjoy an early screening of the film at 7:15 p.m. Nov. 2 in the Amarillo College Concert Hall Theatre.
In an Indie Lens Pop-Up screening hosted by Panhandle PBS and the AC Music Department, the film will screen following a short concert by the Jim Laughlin Jazz Quartet at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 2. The event is free, and refreshments will be provided.
Set against the social, political and cultural landscape of the times, the film brings saxophone great John Coltrane to life, as a man and an artist. Written and directed by John Scheinfeld, Chasing Trane is the definitive look at the boundary-shattering musician whose influence continues to this day.
The film features never-before-seen Coltrane family home movies, footage of Coltrane and his band in the studio, along with hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and rare television appearances from around the world. Interviews with his peers and those he inspired help fill out his life story.
Chasing Trane will be available for online viewing at www.pbs.org/independentlens beginning Nov. 7.
Independent Lens continues with Shadow World, a look at global arms trade, on Nov. 20 and Supergirl, a profile of a surprisingly gifted preteen girl powerlifter, on Dec. 18.
Panhandle PBS will host several other Indie Lens Pop-Up events throughout the next year.
For more information about the Nov. 2 event, contact the Amarillo College Music Department at 806-371-5340 or Panhandle PBS at 806-371-5479. For more about the film, visit its website.
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
