Elle Redman

Once again featuring the expansive keyboard talents of Sam Yahel, saxophonist Joshua Redman's Momentum features more of the '70s-influenced jazz the former "young lion" experimented with on 2002's Elastic. Bringing to mind works by such iconic artists as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and especially Eddie Harris, Redman digs into sundry groove-oriented tracks such as the driving and punchy "Sweet Nasty," which finds Yahel and Redman soloing hard over drummer Jeff Ballard's James Brown-ready dance beat. Interestingly, Redman conscribes some heavy sidemen to help stir the funk this time around with bassists Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and jazz-pop iconoclast Me'Shell NdegéOcello adding their signature styles to their respective tracks…

Coming fast on the heels of Redman's collaborative Yaya3 date with the same players (organist Sam Yahel and drummer Brian Blade), Elastic is more about pop/soul-funk than jazz, but it doesn't sacrifice any of Yaya3's organic feeling and improvisational focus. Here Yahel plays not only Hammond organ, but also Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and other assorted electric keys. Redman makes liberal use of overdubbing and signal processing, much of which is surprisingly subtle. The result is quite a lot of sound for three people, quite a lot of inspired blowing, and quite a lot of stylistic ground covered…

With this recording, Joshua Redman attempts a long-form composition for the first time, a series of eight numbers that form a cycle of sorts. The promotional buzz claimed that Redman was taking stock of his music ten years after winning the Thelonious Monk competition, the event that had the effect of launching him full-blown into the big time. Whether or not that's true, there is a predominantly reflective, thoughtful tone about this quartet session, split between written-out passages and flat-out improvisations. The whole thing runs for a continuous yet comfortable 52 minutes, an extension of the interlude idea that Redman played with on Timeless Tales…

The Classics label's superb series of McKinney's Cotton Pickers releases continues with this set, which features recordings from the original group as well as performances from Don Redman's swing orchestra of the late 1930s.

Joshua Redman's sophomore effort found him leading a piano-less quartet that also included guitar great Pat Metheny and half of Ornette Coleman's trailblazing late-'50s/early-'60s quartet: acoustic bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins. With such company, Redman could have delivered a strong avant-garde or free jazz album; Haden and Higgins had played an important role in jazz's avant-garde because of their association with Coleman, and Metheny had himself joined forces with Coleman on their thrilling Song X session of 1985. But Wish isn't avant-garde; instead, it's a mostly inside post-bop date that emphasizes the lyrical and the introspective…

Picking up on Herbie Hancock's "New Standards" idea, borrowing some old standards, and splitting the total down the middle, Joshua Redman lends his warm fatback tone, arching skyward passages and a post-bop quartet concept to ten popular songs of the 20th century. Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, and the Gershwins share space with the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder and Prince - distinguished songwriters all, yet the scorecard tells us that the oldsters' tunes consistently receive more interesting treatment than the rock/folk songs. "Yesterdays" is flexible enough to turn almost into an acoustic funk thing; "How Deep Is the Ocean" saunters along very soulfully; the near cha cha rhythm on "Love for Sale" pulls some inspired heat from Redman…

As the title suggests, Joshua Redman explores new rhythmic territory on Freedom in the Groove. Abandoning the traditional hard bop that has dominated his past recordings, Redman attempts to work himself into hip-hop and urban dance rhythms, which results in an occasionally intriguing but often frustrating album. Occasionally, the fusions work, with Redman contributing sympathetic, graceful licks to the gently insistent rhythms. Too often, the record sounds forced and stilted, which is unfortunate, since jazz/hip-hop fusion need a musician of Redman's caliber to make it credible in the jazz world.