Last October they went into the studio to explore aspects of Coltrane's most intensely spiritual phase, his final two years; music that is often seen as "difficult" or "too dense". In fact Wynton Marsalis once had the effrontery to tell me that what Coltrane played up until 1965 was jazz but that what he played in his last two years was not.

As it proved on its debut album, Gathering Of Spirits, Saxophone Summit is not just a tribute band. All are major players in their own right. Pianist Phil Markowitz, who is like a jet of steam blasting through the music's waters, plays a crunching solo on Transitions, and then there is the boundless experience and wisdom that bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Billy Hart bring to bear.

Only three of the 10 tunes are John Coltrane's. Each of the six band members contributes one, as does Randy Brecker, Michael's brother, who unleashes feisty trumpet on his own ( Message To Mike), and joins the invocation on Coltrane's Expression. With the Coltrane pieces grouped together at the end, we journey towards them through the compositional personalities of the band members, including Ravi Coltrane's serpentine The Thirteenth Floor (with Lovano on alto clarinet and Scottish flute, Liebman on assorted flutes and Ravi on tenor) and the gentle dignity of McBee's All About You, containing a bass solo of unfathomable tenderness.

By the time we reach the Coltrane compositions, the three horn-players' contrasting styles are well established: Lovano focuses his sprawling sound on lines of svelte elegance; Liebman, who mostly plays soprano, is a highly melodic expressionist; Ravi produces a brawnier sound and often more turbulent lines.

The Coltrane pieces are all ballad-like or, more aptly, prayer-like. The first is Cosmos and the collective step up in intensity is instantaneous. There is suddenly a majesty to everyone's playing that is almost otherworldly. This is carried into Seraphic Light, where the haunting illumination of the melody is made vast by the combination of Liebman and Coltrane on tenors and Lovano on double soprano. Hart plays so exultantly it seems his whole career has been converging on this moment.

Finally comes the little glimpse of infinity that is Expression, and it is ultimately the 28 minutes of these three Coltrane interpretations that make the album so very special. On this evidence the chance to hear Lovano in the Sydney Opera House on October 28 or at the Wangaratta Festival should not be missed.