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Ravi Coltrane

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Ravi Coltrane is an American jazz saxophonist, born on 6 August 1965. He is the son of the saxophonist John Coltrane and the harpist Alice Coltrane and was named after the sitar player Ravi Shankar. His father died in 1967, when Ravi was not yet two years old. He grew up in Los Angeles, studied saxophone at the California Institute of the Arts in 1986 and played a great deal with Steve Coleman, who strongly influenced his musical thinking.

Music and breakthrough

After more than thirty recordings as a sideman, in 1997 he recorded his first album as a leader, Moving Pictures, with drummer Jeff Watts, bass player Lonnie Plaxico and pianist Michael Cain. From the Round Box followed in 2000, Mad 6 in 2002, his first album for Sony, and In Flux in 2005. Later came Blending Times, Spirit Fiction in 2012 and In Movement in 2016. He played with Geri Allen, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock and Carlos Santana. He is co-owner of the label RKM Music, where he produced music for, among others, Luis Perdomo and Ralph Alessi. In 2005 he played in India for the first time and met Ravi Shankar there, after whom he was named.

Influence

He plays tenor and soprano saxophone and works in small line-ups in which there is room for conversation between the instruments. His name brings the line of jazz history close: the son of one of the great innovators who sought a sound of his own, and found it.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a track from Moving Pictures or In Movement and notice how the saxophone enters into conversation with the rhythm section. Do you hear space between the notes?

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists