As the son of John and Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane has managed to fight off comparisons to his father even while exploring John Coltrane’s music and making a career playing the same instrument. Now over 40, the younger Coltrane is now a major force on tenor and soprano sax, an acclaimed bandleader and composer, and founder of an independent record label, RKM. Ravi Coltrane is touring the west coast with his very hot quartet, stopping on July 19-22 at Catalina's Bar & Grill i Los Angeles, July 23 at the Kuumbwa Center in Santa Cruz, July 24-25 at Yoshi's in Oakland, and July 26-29 at Jazz Alley in Seattle.

Born in New York but raised in Los Angeles, Ravi Coltrane (named after sitar legend Ravi Shankar) was only two years old when his father died. His first foray into music was clarinet lessons in middle school, and his tastes at the time were quite eclectic. He listened to the popular music of the 1970s and 80s--James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, and later Prince and the Beatles, as well as to his mother’s piano and his dad’s LPs. He also was a fan of modern symphonic music and film scores. “Jazz music was something I always appreciated but I had to reach my late teens and go through profound family changes before the music became a dominate force in my life,” he says. One of the profound changes that heavily influenced his commitment to music was the death of older brother John in a car accident in 1982. For a while, Ravi stepped back from music—and from the clarinet. Four years later, with a renewed sense of purpose, he enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts to pursue musical studies—and the saxophone.

Coltrane had his first real opportunity as a jazz performer when, in 1991, he joined the band of his father’s renowned drummer, Elvin Jones. Within a year, he moved to New York City where he played with Jack DeJohnette, Rashied Ali, Wallace Roney, Antoine Roney, Geri Allen, Kenny Barron, Cindy Blackman, Joe Lovano, Joanne Brackeen, and Steve Coleman. Coleman in particular has been an influential mentor, and Coltrane has appeared with him on tour and on several recordings. After numerous sideman roles, Ravi Coltrane recorded his first album as leader in 1997, Moving Pictures (RCA), followed in 2000 by From the Round Box. His first touring group included pianist Andy Milne, bassist Daryl Hall, and drummer Steve Haas, with bassist James Genus and pianist George Colligan frequently filling in. These musicians continued to work and tour with Coltrane through 2002, all appearing on his acclaimed 2002 release, Mad 6 (Columbia). Then in 2003, Coltrane launched his own recording company, RKM Music, seeking to fill a void in modern jazz programming; his first projects included albums by trumpeter Ralph Alessi and saxophonist Michael McGinnis, with new releases by guitarist David Gilmore and his own pianist, Luis Perdomo.

Ravi Coltrane’s trajectory continues skyward. In 2004, he was commissioned by the Jazz Institute of Chicago to compose “Reflections on A Love Supreme” in celebration of his father’s album's 40th anniversary, and his quartet will join the Branford Marsalis Quartet in an anniversary tribute as part of SF Jazz in San Francisco, March 12^th (see below). In 2004 he also produced a comeback recording for his mother Alice, Translinear Light, released on Impulse. In January 2005, he reprised his 2004 role as part of the McCoy Tyner residency at Yoshi’s, and a few weeks later released In Flux on Savoy.

Coltrane’s current touring band (and cohorts on In Flux) include pianist Louis Perdomo, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer E.J. Strickland. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, pianist/composer/arranger Luis Perdomo moved to New York with a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music, later studying with the late Sir Roland Hanna at Queens College. His work has included appearances with John Patitucci, Ray Barretto, David Sanchez, Claudia Acuña, Dave Samuels and the Caribbean Jazz Project, Jane Bunnett, John Benítez, Alice Coltrane, and Miguel Zenón, as well as Ravi Coltrane. In fall 2004, he released his first CD as a leader, Focus Point, on RKM. Wrote George W. Carroll (Musicians Ombudsman), “Perdomo attacks you with his melodic flurries of pianistic prowess, but technique aside, Luis says something with his Tatum-esque talent(s).”

Bassist/composer Drew Gress has become a fixture on the modern jazz scene. His early career was centered in the Washington, DC area, where he played with Marc Copeland and later Gary Peacock. After settling in New York, Gress began long-standing collaborations with Dave Douglas and Tim Berne. A founding member of the cooperative quartet, Joint Venture, Gress currently leads a New York-based quartet, Jagged Sky, performing his original compositions. He has also performed with the Paul Smoker Trio, Fred Hersch Trio, Dave Douglas’ String Group, Tim Berne's Paraphrase, Andy Laster's Hydra, Erik Friedlander's Chimera, and the Lynne Arriale Trio. Of his recording Spin & Drift (2001, Premonition Records), Thomas Conrad (Downbeat), described Gress as “a superbly articulate bassist…but his primary interest is composition and arrangement and collective concept.” His 2005 release, Black Butterflies (Premonition), was on many "best of the year" lists.

Young drum sensation E.J. Strickland has performed and recorded with many stellar artists including Ravi Coltrane, Russell Malone, Lizz Wright, Vincent Herring, Myron Walden, Freddie Hubbard, and the New Jazz Composer's Octet, as well as numerous collaborations with twin brother and tenor sax star Marcus Strickland. Raised in Miami, the Strickland brothers were immersed in music by their father, a former percussionist for the Fort Lauderdale Symphony Orchestra and a jazz enthusiast. Moving to New York to study piano, drums, and composition at the New School for Social Research, Strickland’s early mentors included Joe Chambers, Carl Allen, Ralph Peterson, Lewis Nash, and Jimmy Cobb. Wrote Thomas Conrad in Downbeat, “E.J. can emit fields of cumulative energy, clouds of feather-touch and heavy-handed syncopations, latent with power like an oncoming storm."

The current tour of the Ravi Coltrane Quartet will undoubtedly include music from In Flux. On the this recording, his playing was described by DownBeat as displaying a “quiet yet sinewy lyricism… [with] groping improvisations with upper-register cries and hushed, inward melodies.” In Flux includes six compositions by Coltrane, one each from his three bandmates, one group composition, and a cover of Wayne Shorter’s “United.” The original tunes range from beautifully melodic to rhythmically challenging, from moody to mellow to playful, and unlike many recordings these days, the tracks are often short—some under two minutes, the musicians making their statements without rumination or extensive variations. The song titles cleverly reflect the music -–“Blending Times, “Angular Realms,” “Scram Vamp.” And while the recording title In Flux seems an apt description of the shifting time and rhythm, it hardly refers to any uncertainty on the part of Coltrane, for there is nothing tentative about this masterful, mesmerizing set.

Notes Ravi Coltrane, “I want to be involved with music that is truly honest - that’s not trying to follow trends or fit into someone’s idea about what jazz ‘is.’ For Bird, Miles, Monk, Coltrane, and Wayne Shorter, I hold the highest level of appreciation because their love and knowledge of tradition was never greater than their need to follow their own path… This is my goal - my aspiration - to acknowledge with love my influences while attempting a move forward – to be open and receptive to shifts in the musical terrain - to make music that is relevant to my present day experience.”

Hear the Ravi Coltrane Quartet on July 19-22 at Catalina's Bar & Grill i Los Angeles, July 23 at the Kuumbwa Center in Santa Cruz, July 24-25 at Yoshi's in Oakland, and July 26-29 at Jazz Alley in Seattle.