HE was a member of The Blockheads, the new wave backing band of the legendary rock ‘n roller Ian Drury.

British jazz star Gilad Alztmon has also recorded and performed with Robbie Williams, Sinead O’Connor and Paul McCartney.

Born in Israel, Gilad is a multi-instrumentalist, playing saxophones, clarinet and ethnic woodwind instruments.

Gilad, who also featured on the Pink Floyd album The Endless River, will be saluting a jazz great when he appears at the Southampton Jazz Club on Tuesday.

With his Orient House Emsemble he will be recreating the spirit of American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane.

Gilad founded the ensemble in London in the 2000 and since then it has toured extensively around the world, producing six albums in nine years.

Exile was the BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. And the band’s leader has been described as the hardest-gigging man in British jazz.

Coltrane was only 40 when he died in 1967 but packed a lot into his short life.

Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and was later at the forefront of free jazz.

He led at least 50 recording sessions during his career, and appeared as a sideman on many albums by other musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk.

As his career progressed, Coltrane and his music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension. Coltrane influenced innumerable musicians, and remains one of the most significant saxophonists in music history.

He received many posthumous awards and recognitions, including canonisation by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane and a special Pulitzer Prize in 2007.

His second wife was pianist Alice Coltrane and their son Ravi Coltrane is also a saxophonist.

Coltrane's much acclaimed Blue Train studio album was released in 1958 on Blue Note Records.

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, it is the only Blue Note recording by Coltrane as the leader on the session. It has been certified a gold record by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Southampton Jazz Club meets at The Talking Heads