Coltrane's Cousin Mary feted at jazz club
By AL HUNTER JR.
Philadelphia's jazz community gave Cousin Mary a big birthday party last Sunday.And as is her wont, Mary "Cousin Mary" Alexander gave something back to the jazz community: instruments to three of the music's young practitioners.
The heart-warming gathering at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and the Performing Arts was to celebrate Alexander's 79th birthday. But it also was a coming out of sorts.
Alexander, a constant presence at jazz concerts and strong advocate for the music, had a stroke in December. She's been out of public view since, convalescing in rehabilitation facilities in Germantown and Center City.
She's partially paralyzed on her right side. She can't walk and must be moved about in a wheelchair. She can't speak. (And anybody who knows Alexander's gift for conversation knows how that frustrates her.)
But around 4:20 p.m., when blues singer Frank Bey, accompanied by the Aaron Graves Trio, sang "Happy Birthday," Alexander was guided to center stage, snapping the fingers on her good hand in perfect time with the music.
Alexander is the cousin of legendary saxophonist John Coltrane. She was like a sister to him. They grew up together in High Point, N.C., and later in Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. Alexander is the namesake of Coltrane's well-known song, "Cousin Mary," originally found on the 1959 album "Giant Steps."
She and six other women in 1984 founded The John W. Coltrane Cultural Society, which became known for its summer backyard concerts at the Coltrane house, 1511 N. 33rd St., and music workshops for children.
After a state Senate resolution, and citations from Philadelphia City Council and the Mayor's Office honoring Alexander were read, three students from the Clef Club Youth Ensemble got gifts from Alexander and the Coltrane Society.
The Clef Club's music education department, directed by Lovett Hines, is perhaps the venue's strongest asset, especially when it comes to teaching kids.
Bennie Torres, 18, who likes to sport a fancy brim, received an alto saxophone; Demetrius Turner, 14, didn't need an instrument, and got a cash scholarship instead. And Justin Faulkner, 15, received a drum kit and cymbals.
Also granted a gift was Marion Salaam, a musician who has played with Sun Ra and looked out for Alexander.
About 250 people jammed the Clef Club on Sunday to hear some of Philly's best jazz musicians. Even Coltrane's son, Ravi, who has become a fine saxophonist in his own right, made the trip to Philadelphia. He joined in during a rendition of "Cousin Mary."
In introducing Faulkner to the crowd, Hines quoted Alexander as saying, "If the music doesn't put you on the edge of your seat, it wasn't happening."
In her own way, Alexander has kept Philly jazz fans on the edge of their seats.
And she' still grooving.
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