After Eric Dolphy died in June 1964, his mother gave Coltrane his flute, and towards the end of his career, he experimented with the instrument in his live performances and studio recordings.

"Alabama" appears on the album Live at Birdland (1963). It was written in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing on September 15, 1963, an attack by the Ku Klux Klan in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four African-American girls.

His father, John R. Coltrane, worked as a tailor but also had a passion for music and played several instruments.

After moving to Philadelphia in 1943, his mother bought him his first saxophone, an alto.

Coltrane became the first artist to sign with the new Impulse! Records when it bought out his Atlantic contract in April 1961. He would record for the label until the end of his life, and his success earned Impulse! a reputation as "The House That Trane Built".

Coltrane's middle son was named after Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar.

"Naima" is a ballad that he named after his wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs. It first appeared on the album Giant Steps and is notable for its use of a variety of rich chords over a bass pedal. It is mainly made up of a slow, restrained melody, though there is also a brief piano solo.

Near the end of his life, Coltrane endured stomach pains for several weeks, but refused to see a doctor. He finally entered the hospital for treatment and died of liver cancer just a few days later on July 17, 1967.

He received many posthumous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize (2007), a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1997), and canonization by the African Orthodox Church.

Despite its title, only the first three tracks were recorded live at the Birdland club; the rest are studio tracks.