Dewey and Joshua Redman

[Joe G]

Kurt's got a new one out? I did not know that.

[Free For All]

Yes, Mr. Carson.

It's much more of an acoustic outing this time (compared to the more electric (and eclectic) Heartcore, which I also loved).

LINK: Deep Song

w/Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard and Ali Jackson.

Edited March 8, 2005 by Free For All

[Joe G]

Word!

[Jazzmoose]

I've liked Dewey ever since I screwed up and ordered Momentum Space from BMG...

Joshua I've had mixed results with. My first try "Timeless Tales" started out kind of dull and got worse with each listen. On the other hand, "Wish" is one of my favorites. I'd say the jury is still out on Joshua, but I imagine he'll be looked at more and more favorably as memories of his youthful hype/expectations fade. While I haven't picked up any of his more recent outings, what I've heard on the radio sounds pretty damned interesting, unless of course your the type that's trying to keep jazz in a little box. (Which is not to say that's the only reason one might not like him by any means; I've just heard the complaints..."that's not jazz!")

[Joe G]

Of course, the success of Wish owes a great deal to the trio backing him up.

[Jazzmoose]

Of course, the success of Wish owes a great deal to the trio backing him up.

You'd better believe it!!!

[James]

I believe that every Dewey fan should own a copy of "Living on the Edge" with Geri Allen, Cameron Brown and Eddie Moore. BWTFDIK.

[Alon Marcus]

Of course, the success of Wish owes a great deal to the trio backing him up.

Joe, you know that I'm a Metheny fan and his solo on "Make Sure You're Sure" from "Wish" is mindblowing.

...and Haden and Higgins, no need to elaborate about 'em.

But Joshua is the one that makes "Wish" what it is. His solo on "Turnaround" is one of the most logical I ever listened to except for those crafted by Sonny Rollins. The way he deconstructs the tune and uses it to build is amazing. It's also the tune that got me hooked on Ornette. I realized that someone who composes so well must be a very fine musician.

[Joe G]

But Joshua is the one that makes "Wish" what it is.

That statement is a little strong for me. He wrote some nice tunes that worked well with that group. But his playing on that album sounds like a young, not-fully-formed, self-conscious saxaphonist. Which was pretty much what he was. Pat, OTOH, is at his finest on that album, in my opinion.

[James]

But Joshua is the one that makes "Wish" what it is.

That statement is a little strong for me. He wrote some nice tunes that worked well with that group. But his playing on that album sounds like a young, not-fully-formed, self-conscious saxaphonist. Which was pretty much what he was. Pat, OTOH, is at his finest on that album, in my opinion.

After listening to the disc on the way in to work yesterday, I must say that the statement is a bit strong for me as well. And Joe's comment re. Pat's playing is interesting, as I was musing about the same thing.

[Jim Alfredson]

Yes, Mr. Carson.

It's much more of an acoustic outing this time (compared to the more electric (and eclectic) Heartcore, which I also loved).

LINK: Deep Song

w/Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard and Ali Jackson.

I still need to pick up Heartcore. Joe played some of it for me and I thought it was very interesting. I want to dig deeper into it.

[47 West 63rd N.Y.C.]

I have the excellent "Living on the Edge" and a few others.

"The Struggle Continues" really should be on CD by now.

[Elissa]

I agree with Guy.  Joshua had great promise (I actually saw him win the Monk competition), but somehow his records just didn't cut it for me.

Dewey is one of my three favorite living musicians, along with Wayne and Jackie.

Bertrand.

I have low expectations for most any new jazz album - all recorded digitally of course none will breathe as do favorite sides from the 50s and 60s etc. Yet I too like Sam Yahel a lot and look forward to checking out Josh's newer disks with him.

And still, judging by seeing him live a number of times, I find Josh doesn't touch me much. To my ear he personifies jazz as a profession rather than as an art in both feel and sound. Last time I saw him (at the BU Concert Hall I think) he was doing a whole lot of Trane-channeling, yet none of it spiritually, more in a detached, businessman way. I don't mean to imply that he's not a good musician, clearly he is; just not among my favorites and not one imho worthy of comparison to the masters of yore. (Among his generation, I don't feel that way about either say Eric Lewis or Roy Hargrove, who do indeed measure up.) Josh's bands too are always killing, especially Greg Hutchinson, but to Josh himself I far prefer Dewey, who granted I haven't seen since he played for a sec in the World Sax 4tet, but whose playing has stayed with me since. And of course all of Dewey's albums have legs.

I mentioned my take on Redman pere et fils once to a producer at Verve, and he (shock) disagreed, describing Dewey to me as a washed-up has-been and Josh as the second coming, go figure.

Edited March 13, 2005 by Elis

[Jeffro]

I just saw Joshua last night with the San Francisco Jazz Cooperative. I had seen him a couple times previously and really like most of his music. There was one near-religious experience where I caught him at the Monterey Jazz Festival a few years ago. As the leader of SF Jazz, he let the other musicians (and some damn fine musicians they are--N. Payton, R. Rosnes,...!) take most of the solos. They did about half Coltrane & half originals. I liked some of the tunes but certainly not all.

[bertrand]

When was Dewey with the WSQ? I missed that.

Bertrand.

[Elissa]

When was Dewey with the WSQ?  I missed that.

1988? 89?

[Enterprise Server]

When was Dewey with the WSQ? I missed that.

Yeah, when did that happen? I missed it also. Details please....

[Elissa]

You know, you're right! Wasn't Dewey a'tall but Sam Rivers sitting in for one of the WSQists: 1989 I think.

[Guy Berger]

I loved Old and New Dreams -- the album and the band.  Saw them live twice (sometime in 1977-79), and those concerts are right up there with my favorites of all time.

Now how did I forget them!

Marvellous albums. They were my backwards way into Ornette Coleman.

What do people think of O&ND's version of "Lonely Woman"? It's interesting that given such a distinct composition, these guys were able to get such a different feeling or mood from it. I feel that the problem with some performances of Ornette's music is that people can't capture the "Ornetteness" of the music and smooth out the rough edges too much (I feel the same about Monk) -- for example Bobby Hutcherson's version of "Una Muy Bonita", which I like a lot but is a little soulless. For some reason I feel like O&ND's LW avoids this problem despite being a lot "smoother" than the original.

Guy

[bertrand]

On the topic of the WSQ for a moment:

I saw Oliver Lake last night (fantastic show!). I asked him about this. Dewey was never in the WSQ. However, Sam Rivers did fill in once for David Murray!

Bertrand.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Perhaps someone is confusing Redman with Arthur Blythe, who did join the WSQ briefly around 1990 until 1992, replacing Julius Hemphill.

Mike

[wolff]

I have low expectations for most any new jazz album - all recorded digitally of course none will breathe as do favorite sides from the 50s and 60s etc.

It may have as much to do with the absense of tubes in the chain. Many solid state analog recordings have the life and warmth sucked out of them. Live, as usual, is the way to go.

[Elissa]

Another reason I cherish my '68 Fisher.

[Jazz Kat]

Anyone hear Redman's Beyond? I like it, but I have a question about the fourth track. The name excapes me at this time. There are two tenor players on it. What time is this in?

[bertrand]

Which Redman?

Bertrand.