In 1997, after performing on over thirty recordings as a sideman, Coltrane recorded
Moving Pictures, his first album as leader, working with drummer
Jeff "Tain" Watts, bassist
Lonnie Plaxico, and pianist
Michael Cain. This led to touring with his working band, featuring Andy Milne on piano, drummer
Steve Hass, and bassist Lonnie Plaxico. Coltrane's second album,
From the Round Box (2000), was recorded with pianist
Geri Allen, trumpeter
Ralph Alessi, bassist
James Genus, and drummer
Eric Harland.
Mad 6 (2002), Coltrane's first album for Sony, featured drummer
Steve Hass, pianist
George Colligan, and bassist James Genus.
In Flux (2005) included bassist
Drew Gress, pianist
Luis Perdomo, and drummer E. J. Strickland. performing at the
Newport Jazz Festival in August 2005 In January 2005, Coltrane performed in India for the first time as part of a delegation of American jazz musicians sent on a State Department tour to promote
HIV/AIDS awareness. Also participating were vocalist
Al Jarreau, guitarist
Earl Klugh, and pianist
George Duke. Performances included a January 16 concert in
Mumbai (Bombay), a tribute to
Martin Luther King Jr. in
Delhi on January 17, and a music festival in Delhi on January 18 organized by violinist
L. Subramaniam. Also on January 18, Coltrane performed at the Coltrane Shankar Centre, where Coltrane met with the man he was named after. Picking up a clarinet to engage in an unplanned jam session with a pair of
shehnai players, Coltrane said, "I'm a little nervous with the master here." The Coltrane Quartet played at the
Monterey Jazz Festival in 2001 and 2013, the
Montreux Jazz Festival and the
Newport Jazz Festival in 2004, and the
Vienna Jazz Festival in 2005. In 2008, Coltrane became part of
the Blue Note 7, a septet formed that year in honor of the 70th anniversary of
Blue Note Records. The group recorded an album in 2008 entitled
Mosaic, which was released in 2009 by Blue Note/
EMI, and toured the United States to promote the album from January to April 2009. The group plays the music of Blue Note Records from various artists, with arrangements by members of the band and
Renee Rosnes. In 2013, he performed at the Village Vanguard. In 2016 he traveled to Australia to play at the opening of Bird's Basement, the first international section of
Birdland. The following year he would return to Australia during September to play at The Basement in Sydney and again at Bird's Basement in Melbourne. During his second visit, the quartet consisted of himself, Johnathan Blake,
Glenn Zaleski, and
Dezron Douglas. Jazz Festival in 2025 == Personal life ==