Ravi Coltrane Quartet
Smoke
Through December 13

Countdown 2025: 12th Annual John Coltrane Festival
Smoke
Through January 5

What a difference context makes. I have heard tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane many times at the original New York City jazz basement, the Village Vanguard, a room that’s deliberately dark, lit so that the only thing one can see — or are even conscious of — are the artists on the bandstand. One’s entire being is focused on the music, which is a good thing, as the Vanguard specializes in the kind of cutting edge contemporary jazz that demands one’s undivided attention. 

This week, though, Mr. Coltrane is playing for the first time at Smoke, launching the 12th edition of the annual festival named after his father, the legendary John Coltrane. Mr. Coltrane at Smoke is an entirely different experience than at the Vanguard: The room is at ground level, so one can gaze out upon upper Broadway, and even though it’s a 9 p.m. show, light and onlookers from the street are visible. Plus, Smoke serves excellent food as well as drinks, and the room is lit so that everyone at the tables can see not only what they’re eating but also each other, which encourages a sense of community, and  thereby the response to the music is different.

The result during a recent visit was a very outgoing, very extroverted, user-friendly Ravi Coltrane — though I’m not sure if it was the way he was playing or only the setting that influenced our mutual perception.  

The opening tune confirmed my suspicion somewhat: “Cobb’s Hill” was composed by trumpeter Ralph Alessi, and he recorded it with a quintet featuring Mr. Coltrane for an album titled “Wiry Strong.” The performance at Smoke, by Mr. Coltrane with pianist Gadi Lehavi, bassist Jason Clotter, and drummer Elé Salif Howell, was much less introspective, and much more exuberant, than that 2008 recording.  More on this tune in a moment.

Switching to tenor, Mr. Coltrane followed with “Happy House,” a highly animated piece by Ornette Coleman from the 1971 “Science Fiction” project. Next, it was “The Glide” by guitarist Ralph Towner of the band Oregon, from their 2017 album “Lantern,” which stayed in the same upbeat, uptempo mode.  

This second of three sets on Wednesday night consisted of six pieces, all works by jazz musicians — no show tunes or pop songs. Surprisingly, there were no compositions by the leader himself. The final three were all by John Coltrane, which is way more than I have ever heard Ravi Coltrane play in a given set, but highly appropriate for a festival dedicated in honor of the jazz messiah. 

The quartet slowed down and made a seamless, unannounced transition into “Wise One” from the 1964 album “Crescent,” one of John Coltrane’s many meditative works — surely a stepping stone on the path to the more tranquil moments on his 1965 masterpiece “A Love Supreme.” Mr. Lehavi caught the feeling especially well in his piano solo here, as did Mr. Howell, switching between drumsticks and the more exotic sound of mallets. 

The final segment consisted of two Coltrane works also connected via a similar transition. The quartet started with one of the tenor giant’s more accessible later works — at least for the first five minutes — the 1967 “Expression,” originally recorded with Ravi Coltrane’s mother Alice on piano. From there, they proceeded stealthily into Coltrane’s 1959 modern jazz anthem, “Giant Steps.” 

“Giant Steps” was, expectedly, a properly rousing finale. Still, Mr. Coltrane had already launched both the set and the entire month-long residency with his high-energy opening number, “Cobb’s Hill.” This was Mr. Coltrane’s only tune on soprano saxophone, and as he knows well there are many different approaches to the instrument, from the New Orleans-based sound of Sidney Bechet to the international sound, bending toward the Middle East and Asia, of Coltrane pere, to the outer space sound of Steve Lacy, Wayne Shorter, and others. 

For his part, Mr. Coltrane leaned fully into the snake charmer approach. His “Cobb’s Hill” was a fun-and-frisky romp through the desert along the lines of “Caravan,” with an engaging polyrhythm laid down by Mr. Howell. It was a joy ride from start to finish — as was the remainder of the set.   

If they ever make a musical out of “Dune,” this would be a great place to start.