COMPOSERS: Ravi Coltrane
LABELS: Blue Note
ALBUM TITLE: Spirit Fiction
WORKS: Spirit Fiction
PERFORMER: Ravi Coltrane (sax), Luis Perdomo, Geri Allen (piano), Ej Strickland, Eric Harland (drums), Drew Gress, James Genus (bass); Ralph Alessi (trumpet)
CATALOGUE NO: 9189372
The second son of revered jazz musicians John and Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane is quietly emerging as a jazz great in his own right. On this debut for Blue Note he uses two different line-ups: his long-term quartet for half the programme and an earlier quintet for the rest. The abstraction at play with the latter group floats and flits more tentatively between the players. With the regular group there’s a more intense focus and a robust sound. Coltrane moves deftly among the players across both formats, capricious and at the same time conscious of the other’s moves.
Saxophone giant Joe Lovano describes the album as a historic recording. Not because he helped produce it and not because one of the most famous surnames in jazz is once again associated with this iconic label – but because he believes the album to be an inspired work of art. It is hard to disagree.
Garry Booth