Garry Booth’s latest selection includes legends reunited and classics reimagined
JAZZ CHOICE A memorable reunion
The years fall away in this hotly anticipated return by the great Joshua Redman Quartet
Joshua Redman Quartet
LongGone
Joshua Redman (tenor saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), Brian Blade (drums)
Nonesuch Records 75597910032
When the Joshua Redman Quartet made its debut in 1994 with MoodSwing, the 20-something year olds were not your stereotypical Generation Xers. Far from sounding disaffected like many of their peers, the group’s polished post-bop projected an urbane confidence. In the intervening years (the band was together for just 18 months), its members have all forayed into more challenging contemporary territory. But, reuniting for LongGone, the years fall away as the timeless music they make together falls back into place.
Redman still leads from the front, providing six straightahead original numbers for his sidemen to revel in. His playing on the title track has the sweet, restrained feel of a late-’50s Blue Note session, the tenorist barely breaking a sweat as he deftly negotiates his tune’s twists and turns. Virtuosic pianist Brad Mehldau is in his happy, high tempo place on ‘Disco Ears’, urged on by Blade and McBride snapping at his heels. Redman’s sax lines bob and weave on ‘Kite Song’, tethered by Mehldau, both hands independently busy. Everyone finally lets go completely on ‘Rejoice’, a bustling 12-minute live jam animated by McBride’s vamping. ★★★★★
French multi-instrumentalist Cédric Hanriot ’s protean keyboard skills have been much sought after by big stars across the jazz spectrum since he left Berklee College of Music. But his debut as leader, Time Is Color, suggests he’ll soon be operating at the same level – albeit in a hard-to-pigeonhole genre. A truly original thinker, Hanriot’s multi-textured sound palette is stunning. Hypnotic piano lines threaded through synth washes and bubbling bass, with kit drum beats, create music that realistically should be beyond the trio format. Laconic vocal lines from the slam poet/rapper Days add yet another compelling dimension on four tracks. (Morphosis Arts LMA 001) ★★★★★ With his eponymous Ragawerk project, the accomplished Frankfurt-based guitarist Max Clouth is the latest jazz musician to tap into the rich seam of Indian classical music. Clouth has perhaps gone further than most, following up German conservatoire training with three years in Mumbai immersed in Indian music; even his tailormade double-neck guitar is based on Indian string instruments. Alongside longtime
