Coltrane tour in Dix Hills hits right note with officials

Councilwoman Glenda Jackson with Robert Hughes, the town historian; Steve Fulgoni, president of Friends of the John Coltrane Home; Charla Bolton of the Historical Society; Irene Moore, head of the AAHDC; and local historian Rex Metcalfe.

By Michael R. Ebert
michael.ebert@newsday.com

A contingent of local officials and historians took a private tour earlier this month of late musician John Coltrane’s former home in Dix Hills, which is where the saxophonist composed his four-part jazz masterpiece, “A Love Supreme,” in 1964.

“It’s truly amazing to be in the same rooms where legendary music was made,” said Councilwoman Glenda Jackson, who noted the album was ranked 47 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. “It’s a great historic and educational resource.”

Sitting on 3.4-acre wooded area on Candlewood Path, the brick and wood ranch has four bedrooms, an expansive living room, a studio and a practice room above the garage. But it also has structural problems ranging from stripped walls to severe water damage, which is now in the hands of the Friends of the Coltrane Home, a non-profit organization founded specifically to fund preservation of the historic home.

The recent tour, Jackson said, was a chance for local officials to survey restorations made so far to the one-story house, which the town declared a local landmark in 2005 and purchased as part of an ongoing effort to document the town’s African American history.

“We’re continuing efforts to stabilize the home after being vacant for five years,” said Steve Fulgoni, president of Friends of the Coltrane Home. “We have partially restored electricity, water, and done extensive cleaning inside the home during the last few months. We’ve also been making the exterior of the home more presentable for the community.”

Jackson said she was “impressed” with what she saw on the September 5th tour.

“The original flooring is still there, which is simply amazing to me,” said Jackson. “They’ve done a lot of cleanup, but they’ve just scratched the surface. It’s a big project.”

Click this screen to hear Coltrane play:


Down the road, the Friends group hopes to restore the old home to its appearance when Coltrane lived there, while turning it into a permanent John Coltrane resource center. They also hope to secure a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, Fulgoni said.

So far, Friends of the Coltrane Home has collected about $50,000 in donations, about half of the group’s goal of $100,000 needed to stabilize the house by year’s end.

“I urge people to get involved and help in whatever way they can,” said Jackson. “This is not a project they can do alone.”

In addition to Jackson and Fulgoni, other officials in attendance included Town Historian Robert Hughes, African American Historic Designation Council Chair Irene Moore, local historian Rex Metcalfe and Charla Bolton, a preservation advocate with the Society for the Preservation of Long Island.