It worked for rock, so why not jazz? Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey, has played drums for the Who, and Jason Bonham has filled his father John's drum seat on tour with Led Zeppelin. Each reconstituted classic rock act was a successful mixture of the old and the new. Both Jason and Zak were capable musicians, and the nostalgia factor helped sell tickets.
In similar fashion, one of the hottest groups in jazz today, the Jack DeJohnette Trio, includes the scions of two jazz giants of the 1960s. Ravi Coltrane, son of iconoclastic saxophonist John Coltrane, plays sax with DeJohnette. And Matt Garrison, whose father, Jimmy, was John Coltrane's bassist, is the bassist in the trio.
It's not hard to find live jazz in the Boston area. Hotels feature it at brunch on Sundays. Colleges and universities hold jazz concerts at their larger performance venues. Restaurants, from higher-end dining establishments to neighborhood hangs, hire small groups — often duos or trios — during the week or on weekends, usually to provide background music for diners.
