Ravi Coltrane knows better than most the weight of expectations. When your parents are jazz legends (John and Alice), and you play jazz on your father’s instrument, the comparisons are hard to avoid.

It’s not as if the saxophonist was running from his history Saturday evening during the second of two shows at Riverhouse on the Deschutes to close out the first Riverhouse Jazz series. John and Alice were both well represented during the band’s two sets — selections included original composition “Candlewood Path,” named after the street the John Coltrane Home is located on; “For Turiya,” a Charlie Haden composition written for Alice Coltrane; and “Countdown,” from John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” album.

But the younger Coltrane and his quintet — pianist Glenn Zaleski, bassist Dezron Douglas, drummer Johnathan Blake and guest trumpeter Ralph Alessi — spent most of the two-hour show proving their mettle on their own terms. It helps that Coltrane has spent his nearly three-decade career developing a style on his instrument that draws from his father’s hard-hitting playing while still standing apart.

This was clear from the first number, an extended instrumental take on Bob Dorough’s vocal tune “Nothing Like You.” Here, Coltrane and Alessi delivered the first of what would be many sparring matches on their horns, alternating call-and-response lines with intertwining, sometimes jarring melodies. The extended jam also set a soloing order — saxophone, trumpet, piano and occasionally rhythm section — that didn’t vary much throughout the evening, one of the few complaints that could be made of the show as a whole.

The aforementioned “Candlewood Path” stood out in the first set with its shifting grooves, deftly navigated by Douglas and Blake, and delicate melodies played by Coltrane and Alessi. The Haden ballad “First Song” gave Coltrane a chance to show off his formidable chops, while the slow burn of the first set gave way to an all-out musical storm during set two, which kicked off with “Countdown.” Again, Coltrane impressed on his solo, building on his father’s phrasing to take the song to a new level, while Douglas and Blake seemed locked in an instrumental war as they pushed the chord changes through. Alessi’s composition “Transition/Cobb’s Hill” was another rhythm-section showcase, featuring call-and-response interplay between trumpet and piano.

“For Turiya” was perhaps the highlight of the whole evening. Beginning quietly with Coltrane’s ominous saxophone lines, the song built to a thunderous crescendo as the band stretched out yet again with another jam. Charlie Parker’s “Segment” closed the evening out on an energetic note, with Blake taking the spotlight with a monster drum solo in the back half of the song that earned standing ovations.

Student trio The Innovation Project — featuring pianist Laz Glickman, son of Riverhouse Jazz producer Marshall Glickman — opened the show to a sparse crowd. That didn’t stop the piano-bass-drums group from delivering fine interpretations of standards by the likes of Ray Brown and Herbie Hancock.

—Reporter: 541-617-7814, bmcelhiney@bendbulletin.com