In this intimate performance, saxophone luminary Ravi Coltrane and pianist David Virelles offer a searching, explorational take on tenor great Joe Henderson’s classic composition “Inner Urge.”

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Our Alone Together series is a celebration of spontaneous creation, presenting exclusive and unrehearsed duo performances captured live in the intimacy of the SFJAZZ Center. Whether they’re longtime collaborators or meeting on stage for the first time, these world class artists are improvisors of the highest level, creating powerful musical dialogues in the moment.

In this intimate performance, saxophone luminary Ravi Coltrane and pianist David Virelles offer a searching, explorational take on tenor great Joe Henderson’s classic composition “Inner Urge.”

Originally appearing as the title track on Henderson’s 1966 Blue Note masterpiece, “Inner Urge” has become a jazz standard, with its pointillistic, angular melody providing ample jumping-off points for improvisation. Over the six decades since its release, an impressive list of major jazz artists have recorded the piece, including Mulgrew Miller, Wallace Roney, Gary Burton, Dave Kikoski, Stanley Cowell, Steve Kahn, Allen Holdsworth, Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes, and Chico Freeman.

Ravi Coltrane recorded the tune for his 1999 RCA Victor debut album Moving Pictures with a quartet including pianist Michael Cain, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts.

An artist whose career occupies a singular niche in modern jazz, Ravi Coltrane has established a sound and concepts that stand undeniably on their own, extending far beyond the shadow of his iconic name. Early experience in John Coltrane Quartet drummer Elvin Jones’ Jazz Machine and maverick saxophonist Steve Coleman’s M-Base movement helped build Coltrane’s expansive aesthetic, leading to a procession of increasingly audacious recordings as a leader and collaboration with artists ranging from his mother, harpist and pianist Alice Coltrane, and cousin, iconoclastic producer Flying Lotus, to pianist Chick Corea, trumpeter and SFJAZZ Executive Artistic Director Terence Blanchard, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. In 2014, Coltrane curated a week of SFJAZZ performances celebrating the 50th anniversary of the recording of his father’s masterpiece A Love Supreme.

Cuban-born pianist David Virelles is a visionary pianist and bandleader whose work has consistently broken down barriers between improvisation and composition. Since his arrival in New York, he’s led eight albums and worked with artists including Henry Threadgill, Jane Bunnett, Chris Potter, Tomasz Stanko, and Johnathan Blake, among others.

Personnel:
Ravi Coltrane: tenor saxophone
David Virelles: piano