From the Round Box Ravi Coltrane RCA, 2000 Tracks 1: Social Drones 2: The Chartreuse Mean 3: Word Order 4: Blues a la Carte 5: Monk's Mood 6: Irony 7: The Blessing 8: Consequence 9: Between Lines Buy it online Reviewed by David Middleton	Try to forget for a minute that Ravi Coltrane is the son of immortal sax genius John Coltrane. I'm sure he has heard enough about his father's "legacy" and has been both praised and admonished for taking up the same instrument and composing music in the same genre as dear old dad. Perhaps even Ravi himself would like to forget how much of his father's work others hang over his head from time to time. It appears that Ravi Coltrane is bent on working hard to make a name for himself. His own name. Even if he's kept the one he was born with. Working with such greats as Elvin Jones, Ralph Alessi, Kenny Washington, Willie Pickens and a host of others, he has also appeared on albums by Steve Coleman, James Carney and Cecil Brooks III, which earned him both experience and respect in the jazz world. On his second solo album, From the Round Box, he puts that experience to the test. The album begins with the appropriately named "Social Drones." This dry and distant Ralph Alessi composition shows promise from the outset but quickly becomes repetitive. "The Chartreuse Mean" comes off sounding too much like an overly long intro to a larger piece but, in the end, amounts to little more than some instrumental noodling; constantly threatening to become a melody that never quite congeals. "Word Order" and the lovely uptempo Wayne Shorter-penned "Blues a la Carte" harken back to a more traditional era of jazz and are by far the strongest pieces on the album, they also become the setup for Thelonious Monk's classic "Monk's Mood." The latter gets an interesting reworking for the saxophone but has a lazy feel. While Coltrane's playing is soulful, the syncopated arrangement detracts from what could otherwise have been a sterling piece. The second half of the album sets out with the moody and atmospheric "Irony" and an interesting but ultimately unsatisfying stab at Ornette Coleman's "The Blessing." And though "Consequence" has some superior playing and arrangements, the epilogue "Between Lines" suffers from a multiple personality disorder that has piano, sax and trumpet only occasionally coming to terms with each other and the melody. Fully two-thirds of From the Round Box is taken up with other artist's compositions and Coltrane seems to work better with an already set road ahead. Meanwhile, Coltrane's own compositions feel somewhat meandering and overly experimental. The playing is outstanding -- poppa would be proud -- and the arrangements are often eclectic and audacious. From the Round Box is a good, if not brilliant, sophomore album. A daring but uneven effort. | September 2000   David Middleton is the art director of Blue Coupe magazine.	Fully two-thirds of From the Round Box is taken up with other artist's compositions and Coltrane seems to work better with an already set road ahead.