Search - Ravi Coltrane :: Mad 6

He's on the doorstep to greatness

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 05/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Is this an improvement over From the Round Box and Moving Pictures? I guess that depends on what you think "improvement" means. Does Ravi play better? Yes. Does it contain more sensitive and revelatory readings of familiar (or less familiar) material? Yes. Conceptually, does it hang together better? No.Nevertheless, to my ears, this is a distinct advance for Ravi Coltrane. With such a formidable legacy to contend with, it's amazing to me that Coltrane fils has figured out as much as he has. That he continues to develop a unique and important voice on the same instruments as his dad (tenor and soprano sax) without sounding much if anything like him, is quite amazing. Will he ever be the huge looming presence that his dad was? Unlikely. But that doesn't mean he can't contribute--perhaps even a in fairly major and significant way--to the development of the jazz esthetic.And that's just what he's doing here, I believe. So what if it's more of a blowing session than a writing session? Sometimes an artist has to make a major statement concerning his arrival as a contender from a chops standpoint, and that's exactly what Ravi is doing here. This is an announcement, a challenge. The gauntlet's been thrown down. Who will have the moxie to take it up? Joshua Redding, that other son of a famous jazz father? He seems content to mail in his chops by way of unchallenging organ-trio funk/jazz. Joe Lovano? He's got nothing to prove, having already won the triple crown of magazine plaudits. Michael Brecker? Ditto. Really, the field seems wide open.And Ravi Coltrane seems to have taken the prudent path toward jazz immortality: He hasn't over-recorded; he hasn't gotten caught up in all the hype of who's the next tenor monster; he's kept a relatively low profile. But you know what? He's emerging, in his late thirties, as perhaps the main claimant to the heavyweight tenor sax throne. This record marks a major step in that direction. I look for something definitive from him soon. And this astounding record brilliantly foreshadows what's to come. Just take a listen to his take on "Round Midnight." Who would've thought that anything new and significant could've been wrenched from this worn-out chestnut? But Ravi turns it into an entirely new and unheard piece, tearing through it on soprano, even as his father (though in a much different way) tore through "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things."Really and truly, Ravi is on the verge of a major breakthrough. Take a moment and listen to the evidence on Mad 6."

A no-decision

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 05/31/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is Ravi Coltrane's third disc as a leader; the good news is that his tenor playing continues to grow in authority, & that he's worked out his own intelligent take on the M-BASE style of smart, off-kilter rhythms (cf. Coleman, Osby &c). & yet I find the album hard to like. Part of the problem is the loud, gut-punching studio sound which makes the hyperkinetic rhythms (especially Steve Hass's busy drumming) lash out at you mercilessly. The other problem is that sometimes the decision to use familiar postbop standards for the majority of tracks seems perverse: I mean, do we really need "Round Midnight" to be mauled virtually to the point of unrecognizability? -- Anyway, Ravi Coltrane himself remains the most likeable presence on the album, & ensures that it remains listenable. Fans of this kind of in-yer-face contemporary jazz will find much to enjoy; others should approach with caution."