A Legacy Supreme, Remixed

In the jazz year 2026, a running theme is and will be the twin centennials of two of the music’s most undisputed and most influential figures, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Tributes of various sorts are being staged and planned, on the festival and concert circuits and as staged by musicians with direct or indirect connections to both legends. 

By strange coincidence — and a weather-related delay — Santa Barbara got its taste of the Davis–Coltrane worship in less than one week, with the arrival of Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane at The Granada Theatre (sold out! I guess there is a jazz audience in this town), and five days later, Emmet Cohen and band at the Campbell Hall. Such close proximity can’t help but invite close comparison of the two shows.

First things first, Blanchard/Coltrane arrived with fully plugged-in regalia, in a post-fusion mode, while Cohen and his crack band heeded the acoustic jazz mandate, while delivering much electricity in the playing department. Both brought along inventive new arrangements of tunes linked to the Miles/’Trane songbooks-discographies. Both shows leaned heavily on the Miles turf, but gave Coltrane relatively short shrift in the bargain, except in terms of music from the Miles album Kind of Blue, and “No Blues” and “Two Bass Hit” from Milestones, featuring Coltrane as a “side man.”

Blanchard’s band would fare badly in a power blackout. The Granada show kicked off with keyboardist Julian Pollack laying out a solo synth texture before the arrival of the band — the fine electric bassist David Ginyar Jr. and very electric (and dirty-toned) guitarist Charles Altura, and the dazzling drummer Oscar Seaton, whose flowingly creative and over-the-bar-line drumming was one of the high points of the night. The set included rethought arrangements of standards, such a sliced-up “Green Dolphin Street” and a funked-up “All of You” (from the Coltrane-sporting Miles album ‘Round About Midnight).

Blanchard deployed his somewhat irritating — to these ears — effects-laden horn sound, and to what end? The trumpet, in its pure state, is a beautiful thing. Even in his electric band eras of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Miles played the pure horn, albeit very occasionally with a wah-wah. But Blanchard’s notes and phrases asserted the taste and jazz historical understanding that has always marked his playing, and writing. 

The star soloist of the evening was Coltrane, son of John, and a tenor player bearing his father’s inspirational guide — an influence detectable on more tenor players than not since his ‘60s heyday).  He repeatedly impressed with kindness, intelligence, and heat. 

If blessed with its own particular charms, of the groove-lined fusion-y mode, Blanchard can favor — along with his other musical directions, in film music, opera, and more mainstream work — this show and project lacked the certain grace and mystery associated with the music of its tribute subjects. Still, the concert served as an altogether entertaining jazz night out.

Cohen is something of a sensation, a virtuosic young pianist who also projects the kind of enthusiasm which is helping to bring new converts into the jazz conversation, through his advocacy and his Emmet’s Place sessions, a streaming and live haven launched during the pandemic. The sizable, and young, audience at Campbell Hall bore witness to the fruits of his advocacy and obvious deep connection to the jazz spirit and cultural cause.

For this project, Cohen pulled together a fairly all-star cast, with the eminent Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, the lesser-known (so far) but fully engaged tenor saxist Tivon Pennicott, splashy drummer Joe Farnsworth, and solid rock-y bassist Reuben Rogers (whom Santa Barbara audiences have often been privy to, in his role as Charles Lloyd’s regular bassist of choice). 

At Campbell Hall, things started on a high and intricate note, with Cohen’s arrangement of “Surrey with a Fringe on Top,” replete with tight syncopated accents and a fresh blast of visceral and mental energy. The set included the Marcus Miller tune “Amandla,” title track of Miles’ final album from 1989 — and, ironically, an acoustic take on an electric original.  

As a player, Cohen can be almost overbearing at times, leaning on furious flurries of notes, tilting toward Art Tatum–esque excess, where more thoughtful and melodic phraseology would be welcome. His solo on Bill Evans’s classic, and enigmatic, ballad “Blue in Green” (from Miles’s hit album Kind of Blue), for instance was senselessly dense, missing the emotional point of the tune, to these ears. 

By contrast, the show’s brightest and most artful light, Pelt, issued solos fortified with interesting ideas and a probing spirit, along with a will to burn. 

Famed and veteran drummer Joe Farnsworth, whose lengthy résumé includes brief encounters with Coltrane, issued a potent and precision-geared force on his kit, at his best during a hyper-alert and heated tête-à-tête duet with tenor player Pennicott. But Farnsworth also resorted to some showboating crowd-bating tactics, even the kitschy toss-and-catch act with his sticks. We didn’t feel any sympatico with the spirits of the late great Miles and ‘Trane drummers Tony Williams or Elvin Jones, if that even matters.

After playing the suite “Eternal Glimpse,” from the forthcoming album with this project, Universal Truth, Cohen led the band through a medley touching on Miles/’Trane, including “So What” and “Giant Steps” (finally, a direct homage to Coltrane). It all added up to a generous two-hour-plus show, with musicians infectiously excited about playing together, and tipping a collective hat to a pair of genuine shape-shifting jazz icons.

Whatever quibbles a jazz fan might have about the shows — especially jazz fans eagerly seeking out Miles/’Trane connections — it was a thrill to have two world class, steaming hot jazz concerts in our humble town/city, and in the space of a week. There is hope yet for the jazz cause in the 805.