Benito Gonzales piano · Brandon Lee drums · Essiet Essiet double bass
At the MASiMAS Festival 2026, The Azar Lawrence Quartet presents a very special concert dedicated to John Coltrane’s Impulse! period, coinciding with the centenary of one of the most transformative figures in jazz history. This is not a mere tribute, but a deep immersion into a decisive era when jazz expanded its expressive, spiritual, and formal boundaries.
A tenor saxophonist with a strong personal voice, Azar Lawrence belongs to a generation directly connected to Coltrane’s legacy, both in language and musical conception. His career has placed him alongside some of the most important names in modern jazz, and his approach to the repertoire always stems from profound respect for tradition, without sacrificing his own intense and contemporary voice. In this project, Lawrence situates himself within Coltrane’s sonic universe to engage in a dialogue with it from the present.
Accompanied by Benito Gonzalez on piano, Essiet Essiet on double bass, and Brandon Lee on drums, the quartet revisits emblematic compositions from the Impulse! catalog from a vibrant and open perspective, where improvisation, collective energy, and sonic exploration take center stage. The concert is conceived as an experience of deep listening, faithful to the exploratory spirit that defined this crucial period in modern jazz.
Why you shouldn’t miss it: because this concert does not recreate Coltrane—it reactivates his creative drive, offering an intense and contemporary interpretation of his legacy, performed by musicians who understand this music as an act of exploration, risk, and truth in the moment.
