Joshua Redman is one of the most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists to have emerged in the decade of the 1990s. The early influences of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cannonball Adderley, and his father, Dewey Redman, as well as The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Earth, Wind and Fire, Prince, The Police, and Led Zeppelin drew Joshua more deeply into music. Although he loved playing the saxophone, academics were always his first priority, and he never seriously considered becoming a professional musician. After graduating from Harvard College with a B.A. in Social Studies, he had already been accepted by Yale Law School, but deferred entrance for what he believed was only going to be one year to join friends in Brooklyn. Redman almost immediately he found himself immersed in the New York jazz scene. In November 1991, five months after moving to New York, Redman was named the winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition....
read more
Joshua Redman is one of the most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists to have emerged in the decade of the 1990s. The early influences of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cannonball Adderley, and his father, Dewey Redman, as well as The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Earth, Wind and Fire, Prince, The Police, and Led Zeppelin drew Joshua more deeply into music. Although he loved playing the saxophone, academics were always his first priority, and he never seriously considered becoming a professional musician. After graduating from Harvard College with a B.A. in Social Studies, he had already been accepted by Yale Law School, but deferred entrance for what he believed was only going to be one year to join friends in Brooklyn. Redman almost immediately he found himself immersed in the New York jazz scene. In November 1991, five months after moving to New York, Redman was named the winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition.
Joshua Redman Quartet | Words Fall Short
Joshua Redman acknowledges that the title of his new Blue Note album, Words Fall Short, could be viewed ironically. His previous and widely acclaimed where are we was his first to pair a vocalist with one of his many monumental Quartets; yet Words Fall Short is anything but a comment on the saxophonist’s last triumph. More accurately, his latest offering is an organic next step, a collection of previously unheard originals brought to life by inspiring new collaborators. “It’s impossible for me to will a project into being,” he says of the wide-ranging adventures he has embarked upon in what is now his fourth decade as a recording artist. “This album came out of a working environment that inspired me to dig into compositions that hadn’t found a home yet.”
The process began as the first leg of Redman’s where are we tour concluded and pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Joe Sanders, and drummer Brian Blade each left to honor other commitments. In building a new rhythm section, Redman found himself drawn to younger players he had recently encountered. Bassist Philip Norris and drummer Nazir Ebo came aboard first, and Redman quickly knew he had made the right moves. “Not since Christian McBride can I recall experiencing an acoustic jazz bassist who seemingly has it all together at such a young age,” he says of Norris, “and Nazir has groove in spades, a groove that is super-flexible, in the flow of the moment, and with an innate sense of architecture that always serves the song.” By the summer of 2023, pianist Paul Cornish had completed the quartet’s transformation. “Paul is the perfect balance of empath and contrarian, challenging everyone to break away from established patterns, while still always making the music feel good and natural in the moment.”
show less
