Pictures by Lee Paxton (2009)
Ravi Coltrane
Lee Paxton and Ravi Coltrane
Suzanne Paxton and Ravi Coltrane
Suzanne, Ravi Coltrane and Lee Paxton
Signed copy of Ravi's 2005 album "In Flux". Inscription on inner sleeve says, "To Lee & Suzanne Many Thanks & Best Wishes Ravi Coltrane".
Ravi signed copy of Alice Coltrane's 2004 album "Translinear Light". Inscription on inner sleeve above picture of Alice and Ravi says, "Peace, Ravi Coltrane".
The Blue Note 7's 2009 album "Mosaic" signed by Ravi Coltrane, Steve Wilson, Peter Bernstein and Lewis Nash. I talked to Bill Charlap very briefly, but didn't get a chance to have him sign it. I saw Nicholas Payton backstage, but he looked busy on the phone or something, so I didn't bother him. Peter Washington was backstage too, but with all that was going on, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to talk to him either. Hopefully I'll get to meet them all some other time.
After the performance I spoke with Peter Bernstein, and he showed me his neat guitar. Bernstein was a really nice guy and he invited Suzanne and me backstage, and we met most of the band, which was pretty darn cool (to say the least). We got to speak with Ravi Coltrane, and he is a genuinely kind and intelligent person. I told Ravi that we had seen him play with his Quartet as well as with McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker, Roy Haynes and Christian McBride at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2004, and again with McCoy Tyner's band at Newport in 2005, and we were really impressed with his playing. He was very moved when he saw that I had brought a copy of his mother's final album. I also told him how much his father's music means to me, and about when I was a small town boy in Ohio first beginning to comprehend this fascinating jazz music - it was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I probably listened to "Equinox", "Giant Steps", "My Favorite Things", "Blue Train", and "Love Supreme" a thousand times or more. I was so moved that I gave Ravi a big hug, because music is love and I love jazz music, and John Coltrane is perhaps the biggest reason why. I also told Ravi the obvious, that he has some pretty big shoes to fill, and that it is probably difficult to be compared to someone like his father all the time, but he has his own unique and interesting style that he is developing more and more all the time, and I told him that I think it's great that he's helping keep jazz alive. He smiled and said, "I'm just another saxophonist, that's all."
I told as many of the group members as I could that I hope they continue making albums and performing together, and they seemed genuinely optimistic about the prospect of future collaborations. I told Ravi, "I was hoping you'd play 'Blue Train'" and he replied, "We'll save that one for the next album." I sure hope he does!
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