Dianne Reeves and Branford Marsalis Celebrate Coltrane in Monheim
When singer Johnny Hartman entered the Van Gelder studio with John Coltrane on March 7th, 1963 to record an album consisting entirely of ballads, it wasn’t clear at all that the outcome, “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman”, would bring a big boost to Hartman’s career. It is John Coltrane’s only album with a singer, and it is considered a classic and Hartman’s best album to date. Interviewed later for a potential follow-up album which never materialized, Coltrane said about Hartman: “I just felt something about him; I don’t know what it was. I like his sound, I thought there was something there I had to hear, so I looked him up and did that album.”
Fast forward to 2025. Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves at Spivey Hall at the Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia. That’s where they recorded their tribute album, including all six tracks from the original album. And last night, they graced the stage of the newly-built Kulturraffinerie in Monheim, located directly on the banks of the Rhine river. It’s a carefully renovated industrial building, with pretty colorful and almost supple acoustics, perfect for the Branford Marsalis Quartet with Joey Calderazzo on piano, Eric Revis on bass, and Justin Faulkner on drums. Dianne started out with “Autumn Serenade”, greeting the audience during the verses and setting the stage for an immensely satisfying evening with wide-open spaces. The quartet was in such a good shape, with Justin always keeping that relentlessly driving groove, Eric sort of sending out almost untouchable lines, and Joey being Joey, full of off-kilter bars, ad-libs and sparkles.
Thrown into the mix were some Coltrane originals, like “26-2”, “Big Nick”, and “Equinox”, where Branford showed his prowess on both tenor and soprano, with flavorful lines and soaring parts, sometimes including bright bursts, but always maintaining a steady groove and easily, nonchalantly segueing back into the melody of each piece. It might be some sort of challenge for other singers to maintain that certain arc of suspense with a lot of ballad material. Not so for Dianne. We’ve been hanging on to every syllable on Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life”, where Branford also played a verse with compelling texture and layers. Dianne was equally adept and tasty on the luscious ballads “They Say It’s Wonderful”, “Dedicated To You”, and “You Are Too Beautiful”. The group ended the set with a playful, almost exuberant version of Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue”, also recorded by Coltrane for his “Live at Birdland” LP in 1964.
Make sure to check out this extraordinary band for the remainder of their tour:
11/08 Katowice – NOSPR
11/09 Vienna – Konzerthaus
11/10 Zagreb – Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall
11/12 Budapest – Palace of Arts Müpa
11/14 Munich – Isar Philharmonie
11/16 Hamburg – Elbphilharmonie
11/18 Luxembourg – Philharmonie
11/19 Frankfurt – Alte Oper
11/21 London – British Airways ARC
And mark your calendars for upcoming shows at the fancy Kulturraffinerie:
11/13 Ibrahim Maalouf and the Trumpets of Michel-Ange Vol. 2
11/19 Kyle Eastwood
12/18 Nils Landgren Christmas with my Friends
2/28 Bill Laurance & Michael League
3/07 Ravi Coltrane – Translinear Light – The Music of Alice Coltrane with Brandee Younger, David Virelles, Robert Hurst, Jeff “Tain” Watts
