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After Pat LaBarbera shone with Buddy Rich and other big bands, in 1975, Elvin Jones chose Pat to play tenor and soprano sax in his band. This was hugely symbolic given that Jones was the propulsive drummer most closely associated with Coltrane. That was around the time when Kirk MacDonald, who is 15 years Pat's junior, was in Cape Breton discovering Coltrane on record. "For me, John Coltrane's music was there almost from the beginning, from when I first started listening to jazz music when I was a kid," says Kirk, another tenor man who has gone on to have an exceptional career.

Pat and Kirk both ended up in Toronto. Kirk studied with Pat at Humber College, and years later they became colleagues on Humber's faculty. The idea emerged of jointly doing a tribute to Coltrane, which they inaugurated in 1992 at the Pilot. The following year, Kirk and Pat started a tradition of doing an annual tribute at the Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar around the time of Coltrane's birthday on September 23. More than 25 years later, the tribute is still a vital, much-loved event.

While Pat and Kirk recorded original tunes together in a quartet for the vibrant Silent Voices that came out in 2017, there was no released recording of their Coltrane tribute. Until now. Trane of Thought, Live at the Rex impeccably captures pulsating performances from the two Coltrane tribute shows they did in 2018.

Coltrane's repertoire was vast, and Kirk and Pat have amassed a songbook of about 130 tunes they've played in the tribute. The difficulty of deciding what to include in the album could have been daunting, but they struck a thoughtful balance, including early Trane, landmark songs, and more obscure ones.

From the album liner notes by Ken Wong

Track Listing

Press Quotes

Two generations of sax aces that play with the synchronicity of Al and Zoot---on the music of Coltrane no less, share their life experiences bonding with the music of Coltrane and deliver in such fine form you can't help but to have your mind blown. Swinging and grooving their way through tunes from various Coltrane times, this is one of those journey's through the past that has to be made with sherpas like this leading the way. Killer stuff.

     —Chris Spector, Midwest Record review 10/07/19