Born the second son of John and Alice Coltrane in 1965 in Long Island, New York and raised in the Los Angeles area, he was named after Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar. Starting in middle school, Ravi began playing clarinet, though he grew up hearing a variety of music. In 1986, Ravi entered the California Institute of the Arts to pursue musical studies, focusing on the saxophone.
In 1991, Ravi hooked up with Elvin Jones, his father’s renowned drummer from the 60’s and received his first taste of the jazz life. Within a year, he relocated to New York City and began playing with a variety of players: Jack DeJohnnette, Rashied Ali, Wallace Roney, Antoine Roney, Geri Allen, Kenny Barron, Cindy Blackman, Joe Lovano, Joanne Brackeen, Gerry Gibbs, Graham Haynes, and Steve Coleman. Ravi’s relationship with Coleman through most of the 90’s was particularly influential on the budding saxophonist, including tours and appearances on several Coleman albums.
In 1997, after performing on over thirty recordings as a sideman, Ravi entered the studio to record his first album as leader. MOVING PICTURES was his debut on RCA Victor. FROM THE ROUND BOX, Ravi’s second album as leader, was released in 2000 and was warmly received by critics and revealed a growing sense of self-challenge, balancing esoteric covers with compelling originals.
In 2002, Ravi launched his own recording company - RKM Music - with albums by trumpeter Ralph Alessi and saxophonist Michael McGinnis. That same year, Ravi produced LEGACY, a four-disc, thematic study of his father’s career, for Verve, and co-produced and penned liner notes for the Deluxe Edition repackaging of A LOVE SUPREME. Ravi continues his role as family archivist of his father’s unreleased material and is working closely on preparing new projects with Verve. 2003 brought the release of Ravi’s third album, MAD 6, on Columbia Records.
Most recently, Ravi was the driving and guiding force behind his mother Alice Coltrane’s return to recording after a 26-year hiatus; TRANSLINEAR LIGHT, featuring performances by Alice and Ravi along with Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, James Genus, Jeff Watts, Oran Coltrane and others, was released in late September, 2004 on Impulse!. Shaping his own quartet through a series of recent tours and appearances, February of 2005 saw the release of Ravi’s fourth album as a leader, IN FLUX, for the Savoy Jazz label.
In addition to working and traveling with his own group, Ravi recently has made several guest performances with McCoy Tyner, Pharaoh Sanders, Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Michael Brecker, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Branford Marsalis, Mark Turner, Jacky Terrasson and others.
