Ravi Coltrane Quartet fire up at rapt Ronnie Scott’s

Time and time again at this stunning two-set show, he stepped away from the front of the stage to allow his superb band, The New Quartet, to shine. And what a band they were! Dezron Douglas on bass provided the underpinnings and facial expressions; drummer Jonathon Blake was as swingingly powerful as his enormous stage presence would suggest, yet proved himself capable of the gentlest of touches; and the brilliant pianist David Virelles powered everything along with his hard-edged and pulsing circular motifs, reminiscent of the great Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

The Quartet operated with real empathy, bouncing ideas off each other and switching direction in the way that only true jazz improv can. Much of the music – at once dense with sound and ideas, but full of space; oblique yet direct – had the questing turbulence of his late father’s best work, but there was release too, in the form of some lovely, ethereal ballad work. However, Ravi is very much his own man, with a unique musical vision, which pays homage to his parents’ work, but is never a prisoner of the titanic legacy of Alice and John.

Playing a mixture of originals – some from his most recent Blue Note album Spirit Fiction (2012) – and astutely chosen covers, the Quartet had the Ronnie’s sell-out crowd in the palm of their hands, each solo or ensemble exploration meeting with rapt applause. Especially outstanding were the covers by Monk (an intensely hard-edged ‘Skippy’) and Ornette (a playful ‘Bird Food’); and, for the last number, Charlie Parker’s ‘Segment’ Coltrane switched to sopranino sax, an unusual instrument he has completely mastered, if the beautiful tone with which he expressed himself is anything to go by.

The New Quartet will be playing in Leeds and Southampton later this week – try to see them, they’re worth a journey. Let’s hope they return to these shores soon.

– Kevin Whitlock

– Photos by Carl Hyde