The saxophonist Ravi Coltrane has spent much of his career standing apart from the heavy legacy of his father, John Coltrane, who died when he was not yet 2 years old. Of late, the younger Mr. Coltrane has turned much of his attention toward his mother, the pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane, whose influence is less ubiquitous in jazz.
But at Jazz Standard on Wednesday, there was no way to avoid thinking about paternal inheritance. Performing with a trio, Mr. Coltrane welcomed a special guest, Tomoki Sanders, a fellow tenor saxophonist and the son of Pharoah Sanders, who performed with John Coltrane in his final years and carried the spiritual-jazz mantle after Coltrane’s 1967 death. Clearly, the risk of a disappointing gimmick would seem to be running high. But Mr. Coltrane is allergic to glib gestures, and it quickly became clear that Tomoki Sanders was there for the right reasons.
At 23, Mr. Sanders cannot even be called a new face on the New York scene yet: He spent his teenage years living in Tokyo and is currently finishing his degree at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. But you’ll be hearing from him soon. There are few saxophonists in jazz today as silvery and deft as Ravi Coltrane, who blew a handful of melted-ore solos throughout the evening, bending in all sorts of directions without slurring the notes themselves. But Mr. Sanders kept up with him handsomely. He played some keen, beboppish solos of his own, always keeping track of the pocket and never losing his command.
Unsurprisingly, Mr. Coltrane had the snugger rapport with his rhythm section — Dezron Douglas on bass and Allan Mednard on drums — but Mr. Sanders was keyed in and constantly listening. On the opening of “Fifth House,” just seconds into the performance, he and Mr. Coltrane came together to play a drone, melding comfortably. When the tune neared its end, the two saxophonists threw out little, charmlike notes and dashes. Mr. Sanders was quick and light of touch, finding the spaces between Mr. Coltrane’s tones. Ultimately the two horns became locked in an unlikely harmony, just one note apart, embracing the fertile space between them.