Now, where have we heard that name before? Oh, yes the legendary saxophonist, John Coltrane. Well, we are not referring to him, but another gentleman that is carving his own legacy in jazz, which is Ravi Coltrane, the son of John Coltrane.
Born in Long Island, New York on August 6, 1965, Ravi was only two years old when his father died in 1967. As the years passed, he began to develop his own musical interest. In high school he switched from playing the clarinet to the saxophone. Elvin Jones, John Coltrane’s renowned drummer, noticed that Ravi was an authentic performer and hired Ravi to play with him in 1991. After his success grew Elvin Jones, Ravi began playing along other great musicians such as Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Wayne Shorter, Mark Turner and many others which lead to over 40 recording as a sideman.
“‘Moving Pictures” was Ravi’s first album as a leadman in 1997. Ravi’s second album, “From The Round Box,” was recorded in 2000 after he married Kathleen Hennessy and welcoming their son, William. In his second album he took on tunes from Thelonius Monk, Ornette Coleman, and Wayne Shorter featuring Alessi and Geri Allen. Between his second and third album, “MAD 6,” which was released in 2002 he produced “Legacy.” “Legacy” is a four disc thematic study of Rav’s father, John Coltrane career for Verve. During this time Ravi co-produced “A Love Supreme” adding penned liner notes for the Deluxe Edition. In 2004, an all-star album was released called, “Translinear Light,” which featured his mother, Alice Coltrane, who has been on a 26 year hiatus, which included him, his brother, Oran, Charlie Haden, Jack Dejohnette, James Genus, and Jeff Watts. Grammy nomination came in February of 2005 with the release of his fourth album, “In Flux”, “which was voted the #3 top albums in The New York Times’ prestigious 2005 year-end list.” (http://ams-artists.com/ravi_coltrane/biography.html) “Blending Time” his follow up album from his Granny nominated album was released in 2009 which solidified Ravi Coltrane as one of today’s most innovative jazz musician and improvisers of jazz music.
Ravi Coltrane is currently touring U.S. cities and will be making a stop in Houston, TX at the Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center, which is located at 501 Texas Avenue, Houston, TX, 77002. Tickets are $60, $48, and $33 dollar which can be purchased online or by phone, 7113-524-5050. Ravi Coltrane Quartet is presented by Da Camera of Houston, which is an organization that takes the stand to attract new listeners to the concert hall in response to the decline of audiences for classical music. This is an event that you don’t want to miss!
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