Carri Coltrane

Upon hearing the name Carri Coltrane, a few jazz enthusiasts have wondered if the jazz/pop singer is related to the seminal John Coltrane. But in fact, they are unrelated -- Carri Coltrane has used Coltrane as a stage name in order to express her admiration for the late tenor sax giant. This isn't to say that her singing is a lot like his playing; Carri Coltrane's subtle, waifish introspection is a long way from the explosive, fiery solos that John Coltrane was known for. Born Carrie Thompson in Phoenix, AZ, she grew up in Phoenix but lived in Seattle for many years and moved to New England in 1987. Coltrane, who has been singing professionally since childhood, was only nine when she joined Wallace and Ladmo -- a children's program that was founded by her father, Bill "Wallace" Thompson, and aired in the Phoenix Area from 1954 to 1989. Coltrane remained with the show until she reached adolescence and outgrew her role as a little-girl singer. She went on to sing with various rock and pop bands as an adult and did quite a few jingles for commercials along the way. When the singer put out her self-titled debut album in 1980, she was still going by Carrie Thompson -- it wasn't until 1986 that she started going by Carri Coltrane. One person who really encouraged her to explore straight-ahead jazz was producer/songwriter Eugene McDaniels, who she met when she was living in Seattle in 1979 . Coltrane eventually became friends and partners with McDaniels (who was best known for writing Roberta Flack's 1970s mega-hit "Feel Like Makin' Love") and formed Numoon Publishing with him. CDs they have put out on the Numoon label include 1997's The First Time (which included some jazz singing but contained mostly adult-contemporary pop), 1997's Christmas-minded Child Inside My Heart and...