How fitting that jazz titans Miles Davis and John Coltrane were both born in 1926. As the centennial of their births is celebrated across the country, tributes have taken many forms. Trumpeter Terence Blanchard has joined forces with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane for a series of commemorative performances, launching the collaboration at Hill Auditoriumon the campus of the University of Michigan. The appearance marked Blanchard's debut under the auspices of the University Musical Society, while Coltrane had previously stood on the same stage in 2006 alongside his mother, Alice Coltrane.

From the outset, it was clear that this was largely Blanchard's conceptual vehicle. His ensemble, The E-Collective, operates in a distinctly electric and stylistically hybrid space. Guitarist Charles Altura and electric bassist David Ginyard provided thick harmonic layers and propulsive grooves, while drummer Oscar Seaton—whose résumé ranges from Ramsey Lewis to Lionel Richie—proved himself a rhythmic shapeshifter, equally at home in funk and fusion styles. Though Coltrane typically works in more acoustic settings, he navigated this amplified terrain with poise, carving out lines that felt both grounded and exploratory.

Amid the evening's dense rhythmic frameworks, Israeli pianist Tom Oren emerged as a revelation. A last-minute substitute, Oren—an alumnus of Berklee College of Music and winner of the 2018 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition—opened the program alone. His introduction unfolded with a striking command of dynamics and architecture, almost classical in its sense of drama. Gradually, the band joined him as the music coalesced into Blanchard's original "Flow," a piece that nodded unmistakably to Davis's electric period of the 1980s.

In fact, Davis remained the program's primary touchstone. Despite Ravi Coltrane's presence—and his father's five-year tenure in Davis's groundbreaking quintet—no John Coltrane compositions were included. The younger Coltrane entered on a brooding rendition of "Flamenco Sketches," his tone probing yet restrained. A reggae-inflected "On Green Dolphin Street" recast the Tin Pan Alley staple in unexpected colors. As Blanchard told the audience, "My elders always told me to say something of my own and not just do what they had done." That philosophy shaped the evening's aesthetic.

Seaton's deep-pocket funk groove transformed "All of You" into something approaching a jam-band excursion, with Coltrane delivering one of his most compelling solos of the night. The drummer's own explosive statement segued into a mashup of "All Blues" and "Someday My Prince Will Come," both refracted through Blanchard's contemporary lens. The formal set concluded with a hard-driving "Two Bass Hit," during which Oren and Altura traded fiery phrases with palpable chemistry.

The audience responded enthusiastically, recalling the band for an encore. In their mission to reinterpret rather than replicate, Blanchard and company undoubtedly succeeded. The extended forms allowed each musician ample room to stretch and assert an individual voice. Still, for all its electric energy and rhythmic heft, one couldn't help but wish that the band had settled into some unadorned swing at some point during the evening. (www.allaboutjazz.com)