Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ravi the son breaks free

First Night; Ravi Coltrane Group Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Sunday 18 October 1998 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

THE FIRST date of Ravi Coltrane's first European tour as a leader was a convincing success. His band was loaded with tightly wound energy; the tunes, largely lifted from his new Moving Pictures album (RCA Victor), worked well in a live context.

Ravi Coltrane is possibly the only jazz musician in the world who could fill a concert hall with people there largely to hear someone else; so it must have been particularly satisfying to have attracted a young audience, and that nobody asked for "Giant Steps" for an encore.

Ravi Coltrane's father was John Coltrane, who died when Ravi was two. Ravi didn't study jazz seriously until he was 21. He moved from clarinet to the tenor and soprano saxophones (his father's instruments of choice), and played with his father's former drummer, Elvin Jones.

The younger Coltrane produced a glorious tone on the tenor instrument: light but burnished. His acoustic quintet played music which grew out of the loose but slightly cerebral approach of Miles Davis's late 60s group, with a dose of M-Base contemporary funk thrown in for measure.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in