“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
(Photo: Joe Alper)Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and soprano saxophonist’s extraordinary artistic vision and…
Sonny Rollins: a very conscientious blindfoldee.
(Photo: DownBeat Archive)Sep 1, 2026 12:29 PM
Editor’s Note: In tribute to the late Sonny Rollins, who passed away on May 25 at age 95, we present his first DownBeat Blindfold Test with Leonard Feather, creator of the column, from our Dec. 12, 1957, issue.
The significance lies in Sonny’s having been able, during the past year or two, to practice what he preaches. More than any other tenor player of the younger generation, he has succeeded in developing a sound and style that can be called original rather than derivative.
Sonny has been important in another area of jazz development.…
