| Mad 6 | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Ravi Coltrane |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 2002 |
| Label: | Eighty-Eights/Columbia[1] |
| Producer: | Yasohachi Itoh |
| Prev Title: | From the Round Box |
| Prev Year: | 2000 |
| Next Title: | In Flux |
| Next Year: | 2005 |
Mad 6 is an album by the American musician Ravi Coltrane, released in 2002.[2] [3] Coltrane supported the album by playing the 2003 Satchmo SummerFest.[4]
Produced by Yasohachi Itoh, the album was recorded over two days in May 2002 in New York City.[5] [6] [7] Coltrane wrote four of the album's tracks.[8] He split the album between two sets of musicians.[9] The renowned drummer Steve Hass is the only quartet member who played on every Mad 6 track; Darryl Hall played bass and George Colligan played piano on some tracks.[10] [11] "26-2" and "Fifth House" are covers of songs by Coltrane's father.[12] "Ask Me Now" is a cover of the Thelonious Monk song.[13] Other songs are by Jimmy Heath and Charles Mingus.[14]
JazzTimes called the album "a taut and satisfying outing in the progressive-mainstream vein ... Coltrane's ensemble delivers one forward-thrusting performance after another."[15] The Independent deemed Coltrane "polished, sophisticated, and ever so slightly bland."[16]
The Globe and Mail labeled Coltrane's saxophone solos "smart and stylish at every turn"; the paper later listed Mad 6 among the best albums of 2003.[17] [18] The Hartford Courant considered Coltrane "a solid, expressive player, whether he's digging into original compositions or building on harmonic structures."[19] The Guardian stated that Hass added "a post-techno intensity to every beat."[20]
AllMusic wrote that "the tense, brisk arrangement of 'Round Midnight' suggests the hustle and bustle of Manhattan nightlife at that hour, with a tense rhythm behind his furious soprano sax."