Jeff “Tain” Watts, Ravi Coltrane, Nicholas Payton & Christian McBride
WATTS Project

Friday, April 1, 2011 | 8:00 pm

Page Auditorium

In this gathering of jazz headliners, three star bandleaders assemble to support Jeff “Tain” Watts, the legendary sideman and Grammy-winning drummer who shines even brighter when cast as lead. Surrounding the “polyrhythmic dynamo” (NPR) are the younger Coltrane, son of John and Alice, on sax; the trumpet wizard Payton; and the formidable McBride on bass. The irascible veteran leads them all in an evening of breakneck Watts originals: propulsive and sly, they give the band’s “near-telepathic” improvisation (JazzTimes) a trickster’s edge — this, says NPR, is “an off-the-cuff, piano-less quartet going for broke.”

“Never short of visionary, “Tain” possesses heat, nuance, maturity, and a bounty of ideas.”
—Entertainment Weekly on Jeff “Tain” Watts

“There is no disputing heredity, yet there also is no doubt that this Coltrane has taken his own Giant Steps. Genius here extends across generations, the son’s path informed, not confined, by the name Coltrane”
—JazzTimes on Ravi Coltrane

“Ranks among the most persuasive trumpeters to come out of New Orleans in the past 20 years, the emotional fervency of his playing matched by the brilliance of his technique.”
—Chicago Tribune on Nicholas Payton

“…an uncommon synthesis of brawn, agility, and wit.”
—New York Times on Christian McBride