Ravi Coltrane is bringing his quartet to downtown Healdsburg on September 20, playing a tribute to his father John Coltrane's 100th birthday inside a converted movie house that seats just 425 people. The Grammy-nominated saxophonist, who turns 61 this year, will lead a centennial celebration that Healdsburg Jazz has built around a single, unmistakable milestone: John Coltrane was born September 23, 1926, and jazz institutions nationwide are marking the date in a big way.
The Raven Performing Arts Theater at 115 North St. will host the 7:30 p.m. show, according to The Press Democrat. Tickets range from $31 to $106. The venue itself carries its own local history, having been converted from the former Aven Movie Theater into a community performing arts center in the late 1980s, and it now operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit facility, per the Raven Performing Arts Theater.
Coltrane will perform with his quartet, which includes Jonathan Finlayson, Gadi Lehavi, and Elé Howell, the Press Democrat's report notes. The saxophonist was named for Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar master whose music influenced his father, and he has several September performances on his schedule. Healdsburg fits into a broader West Coast run: the quartet plays Berkeley with SFJAZZ on September 19, the night before the Healdsburg show, and heads to the 69th Monterey Jazz Festival on September 26, according to the official Ravi Coltrane website.
A Nationwide Nod to Coltrane's 100th
The Healdsburg date lands amid a wave of centennial programming spanning the country. Philadelphia, where Coltrane launched his career, is running a citywide “Coltrane 100 Philly” festival with more than 30 events, and Wynton Marsalis is leading the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in a dedicated tribute at the Hollywood Bowl, according to Jazz Philadelphia. The music industry has responded with new releases too — NEA Jazz Masters Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves are touring behind a fall Blue Note Records album recreating John Coltrane's 1963 collaboration with singer Johnny Hartman, per the Cincinnati Arts Association.
Healdsburg Jazz has given its own centennial event a name — the Centennial Celebration — and built a companion lecture around it. Artistic Director Marcus Shelby will present a free talk titled The Life and Legacy of John Coltrane from 3 to 4 p.m. on September 14 in Room 115 of Forsyth Hall at Santa Rosa Junior College, the Press Democrat reports. Forsyth Hall is a music building dedicated to instruction, built in 1979 and home to SRJC's instrumental studios, according to Santa Rosa Junior College.
From Summer Festival to Year-Round Presenter
Healdsburg Jazz was founded in 1999 by Jessica Felix, and Shelby took over as artistic director in 2020. Since then he has pushed to expand the organization's programming well beyond its annual summer festival, the Press Democrat's report states. The nonprofit now runs a three-day winter festival each January, and last year it staged three concerts outside its regular festival schedule — this year it has already held one standalone show, with three more scheduled before year's end.
Those additional dates include holiday performances of the Harlem Nutcracker, singer Stella Heath at a family matinee at the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa on December 12, and pianist Cyrus Chestnut performing with his trio at the Paul Mahder Gallery in Healdsburg on October 11. Shelby told the Press Democrat that the organization intends to offer something monthly going forward, whether an educational program or a concert, as part of what the outlet describes as a five-year plan to expand programming beyond the festivals.
According to a City of Healdsburg community survey, residents said tourism had benefited the city and its economy as a whole, though they were divided about its effect on their own families. A City of Healdsburg economic-development analysis identified health care, tourism and its associated industries, and wine as economic-development strengths.
Education Anchors the Nonprofit's Mission
Ticketed headliner shows like the Coltrane tribute draw public attention, and Healdsburg Jazz also offers educational programming.
The California Arts Council's 2024-25 State-Local Partners grants provide general operating support and technical assistance for county-designated arts agencies.
Shelby is Healdsburg Jazz's artistic director.
