Mobile’s holiday season is filled with long-running traditions, and for the city’s jazz community, one of the most anticipated is a Christmas-season tribute to saxophone legend John Coltrane. The show has become a fixture on the local music calendar, drawing together musicians from Mobile and beyond for an evening built around the free-flowing, improvisational spirit that defined Coltrane’s career.
This year’s lineup brings together six players with deep roots in the regional music scene. Keyboardist Chris Spies and his son, saxophonist Christopher Spies, will represent Mobile on stage, continuing a family musical partnership that keeps both father and son busy with a variety of projects in and outside the city. Bassist Kevin Scott, whose resume includes stints with Highly Kind and The Church Basement Band, will anchor the low end for the evening.
Rounding out the rhythm section is drummer Mark Raudabaugh, known for his work with the Americana roots band Donna the Buffalo. Guitarist Nick Johnson, a member of the Randall Bramblett Band, will add his playing to the mix, while percussionist and vibraphonist Mike Dillon, of the New Orleans-based group Garage a Trois, will bring an additional layer of texture to the group’s arrangements.
Coltrane’s catalog, known for its harmonic complexity and improvisational reach, gives the assembled musicians wide latitude to reinterpret the material rather than simply replicate it. That approach has helped the tribute build a loyal local following over the years, with jazz fans in the Mobile area treating the show as an unofficial kickoff to their holiday season.
The gathering underscores the depth of talent that calls the Gulf Coast home, with local players regularly crossing paths with touring and recording musicians from bands with national followings. For Mobile’s jazz community, the annual Coltrane tribute offers a chance to celebrate that connection while paying respect to one of the genre’s most influential figures.