Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate Coltrane@The Soraya 10.08.26

2026 has been a great year to go to jazz venues.

Taking advantage of the 100^th birthday of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, various artists have blown out the musical candles of the two icons, revisiting and celebrating their legendary music to a new generation.

At the Soraya, Branford Marsalis jumped out of the birthday cake by teaming his long-time quartet of Eric Revis/b, Joey Calderazzo/p and Justin Faulkner/dr with the luscious voice of Dianne Reeves in putting new wine into the old wineskins of the classic teaming of Coltrane with Johnny Hartman for the 1963 summit meeting of an album. The music in front of the packed theatre was a night of inspiration and not imitation, with both stars shining brightly.

For the instrumentals, Branford bulled out his tenor and led the team through a deep rivulet of “Impressions” that had Calderazzo fingering with a Tyner touch and the leader duking it out with Faulkner, while the team bebopped with assertion on “26/2” with Marsalis and Faulkner trading fours like a pair of ping pong players, whereas Marsalis’ sweet soprano was playful and hard swinging around Calderazzo’s supple touch for “Big Nick”.

With the Revis and Faulkner supplying a slinky pulse, up to the stage came the lovely Reeves, husky in voice and effortless in crystal range, singing through the sensuously exotic take of “Autumn Serenade” with Marsalis tapping into his inner Ben Webster for some soft cooing in support. Revis’ intro to “Dedicated to You” had Reeves rich and flexible, weaving around Calderazza’s classy ivories, while Marsalis puffed out smoke rings (in two different intros and keys!) to a cozy lounge lizard read on “They Say Falling In Love Is Wonderful”.

But the highlight of the night had to be when Reeves was all alone with Caldarazzo and Marsalis on soprano for a glorious mournful take of “Lush Life” that captured the loneliness of the late night before the rhythm team finally floated in for a closing of the song and stacking of the chairs on the table.

Closing with a celebratory “Afro Blue”, Ms.Reeves not only sang out in whimsical rhyme the names of each musician, but gave a brief history of Coltrane’s legacy. With a mix of singing and chanting, Reeves melded together with Marsalis for some sonic velvet that was palpable in softness. Let’s  hope these artists, and others, look for other anniversaries to salute, as this year’s collection became addictive.

 

Upcoming events at The Soraya include Michael Feinstein 10/11 The Bad Plus Farewell Concert 12/03, Spanish Harlem Orchestra with Arturo Sandoval 12/12 and the Jazz at Naz Series in February including Emmet Cohen, Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane.

www.thesoraya.org

Photography by Paul Forrer