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ARTICLE: La Jolla Music Society’s Jazz Mini Festival pays homage to Miles Davis and John Coltrane

Noah Lyons
La Jolla Light

March 25, 2026

The festival April 6-11 commemorates the legendary late musicians’ 100th birthdays

A pair of late jazz legends, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, would have turned 100 this year. The La Jolla Music Society will honor both of them with a festival next month.

“If you program jazz, there’s no way you … wouldn’t want to celebrate two of the greatest jazz musicians of all time who are both sharing a 100th-anniversary celebration,” said Leah Rosenthal, the Music Society’s artistic director. “It felt like a no-brainer to not just have to pick one celebration.”

The music of trumpeter Davis and saxophonist Coltrane will guide the organization’s second Jazz Mini Festival from Monday to Saturday, April 6-11, at several local venues.

The first Jazz Mini Festival had a piano theme and was headlined by Herbie Hancock. This time, a collection of contemporary musicians including Coltrane’s son will tackle Davis and Coltrane’s iconic works.

Four concerts April 6-7 — two each night — will feature pianist Emmet Cohen. He will be followed by an April 9 tribute performance by trumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane.

La Jolla native Brian Levy will lead the Brian Levy Quartet in a Coltrane-focused set April 10, and the festival will conclude with an April 11 concert by a band teaming Joe Lovano and Melissa Aldana on saxophones with a rhythm section led by drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts.

Most of the performances will be in venues at La Jolla’s Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center at 7600 Fay Ave.

Cohen will play and participate in an interview at The JAI, Levy will perform at the Wu Tsai QRT.yrd and the final show will take place in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall.

The one event away from The Conrad is Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane’s performance, which will be at San Diego’s Balboa Theatre.

Levy, director of San Diego State University’s Jazz Studies Department, attended La Jolla Elementary and La Jolla High schools in his youth. He joined San Diego State’s staff and returned to live in La Jolla in 2023 after a decade of teaching at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

Levy first became acquainted with John Coltrane’s music through old recordings when he was 10. It didn’t take him long to get hooked.

“When I first heard his music, it was a little bit like … what people would describe as a religious epiphany,” Levy said. “It connected with me so deeply that it was my life dream and journey to celebrate jazz and John Coltrane’s music.”

Over the years, Levy played several Coltrane tribute shows. He wrote his dissertation about his music. He even named his son Coltrane.

“Playing his music is an honor, and I think the musicians that are performing with me are … some of the best you’ll find in Southern California,” he said.

Levy’s appreciation is shared by many jazz musicians, Rosenthal said.

Davis and Coltrane “are what jazz musicians aspire to be … and what they grow up learning from,” she said.

Jazz Mini Festival

• Emmet Cohen: “Miles and Coltrane at 100”: 5:30 and 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, April 6-7, at The JAI. Featuring Cohen, saxophonist Tivon Pennicott and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. $65-$95.

• “Jazz Encounter: An Interview with Emmet Cohen and Joe Farnsworth”: 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, at The JAI. Panel discussion featuring Cohen, Farnsworth and journalist, musician and record producer Robert John Hughes. Free.

• Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 9, at the Balboa Theatre. Featuring Blanchard on trumpet, Coltrane on saxophone, Charles Altura on guitar, Eden Ladin on piano, David Ginyard Jr. on bass and Oscar Seaton on drums. $91-$101.

• Brian Levy Quartet: 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 10, at the Wu Tsai QRT.yrd. A tribute to the music of John Coltrane, featuring classic compositions and original works inspired by his techniques. Free.

• “Coltrane 100: Both Directions at Once”: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Baker-Baum Concert Hall. Featuring saxophonists Joe Lovano and Melissa Aldana, pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, bassist Linda May Han Oh and Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums. $75-$110.

Find out more or buy tickets at theconrad.org/jazz-mini-festival.

— San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer George Varga contributed to this report.