Ravi Coltrane Quartet: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Suraya Mohamed | June 26, 2017 — Yes, Ravi Coltrane is the son of the John Coltrane, one of the most famous and important jazz saxophonists and composers of all time. He’s also the son of multi-instrumentalist, composer and spiritual leader Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. (In fact, all members of the band here are performing artists in their own right and come from artistically rich families; drummer E.J. Strickland is the brother of saxophonist Marcus Strickland; Adam Rogers parents performed on Broadway and Yunior Terry is Yosvany Terri’s brother, both heirs to Cuban music royalty.) But pedigree is not what makes him (or them) special. It’s the ability to draw on ideology and theory from the past and give already-great music the room to transform. As Coltrane told NPR back in 2013: