It was a bitterly cold evening. Joshua Redman and his young quartet warmed the audience up with a 90-minute set of music that focused on the melodic side of his multifaceted playing.
Redman has appeared many times in the area in close to 90 years. Other than appearances at the former Freihofer Jazz Festival he has had:
He had a open rehearsal residency in the late 90s @ Troy Music Hall in preparation for recording his album “TImeless Tales” ;
An appearance with the 2000’s at the Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival;
An appearance with the all star band James Farm as well as other all star bands in Albany;
Several appearances at the Freihofer Jazz Festival;
Appeared as a special guest with the jamband Spafford in 2017 at the Palace;
Joshua was one of a young generation of musicians that came up in the 90s , that is now mentoring young musicians by bringing them into his band,
Their youth did not deter their talent. The sound of Philip Norris ‘s bass dominated the lower midrange,it was rhythmic and melodic at the same time.
Paul Cornish and Nestor Ebo were initially quiet for the first few numbers, but plainly made their presence known later in the set. Cornish’s prodigious lightning fast fingers ran across the keyboard. Ebo’s flailing drumsticks, bass drum kept the groove in the tunes soloing where appropriate and not too tiring. A heavy NOLA March beat was prominent. The interplay between the members of the band was key to this performance. Redman frequently sat in the background to observe and where he felt an insertion of his tenor or soprano was needed, he quickly stepped in and moved around the stage,. The Hall was as much an instrument as the band.
The setlist focused on the 3 most recent albums, the new “Words Fall Short”, 2022’s “Where We Are”and 2022’s “Longgone” and had some unrecorded compositions
Compositions such as Message to Unsend, So it Goes, Your Call Will Be Answered, and I Want to Dance seem to emanate from contemporary life’s constant interruptions, instant reactions, and phrases.
The concert ended with an encore of a much older tune “Something In Common”. Something we call search for in these days and times.
Gallery:
