Denzel Washington is adding yet another thing to his resume. In addition to his upcoming film adaptation of August Wilson’s play Fences and starring in The Magnificent 7, the actor, producer, and director will narrate a documentary on prominent jazz saxophonist John Coltrane.
The doc, Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, is set to take viewers deep into Coltrane’s art aesthetic and life through the musician’s archival materials, animated murals and interviews from a host of talents ranging from Common and Carlos Santana to Kamaso Washington, to name a few.
Just the thought is giving me flashbacks of Denzel as “Blue”–the trumpet player–in Mo’ Better Blues. His smooth, smokey voice is sure to add a nice jazzy touch to the telling of Coltrane’s story.
Chasing Trane is set to debut at the Toronto International Film Festival. The directors’ desire was to create a film that brings the human aspect to Coltrane’s life. The story further explores his struggles and his revolutionary status.
“It is a story of demons and darkness, of persistence and redemption,” it states in the film synopsis.”Above all else, it is the incredible spiritual journey of a man who found himself and, in the process, created an extraordinary body of work that transcends all barriers of geography, race, religion and age.”
Coltrane was an artistic innovator with an intriguing history. We’re looking forward to the reviews and hopefully seeing the film hit theaters down the line.
