Commanding legions of bonkers, fists-in-the-air fans, Joshua Redman is the closest contemporary jazz comes to a gladiator deity. Directing an earnest, unprejudiced eye towards jazz's interpretive powers, the 29-year-old saxophonist and composer generates an excitement in his live performances unusual for most sunglasses-at-night fans of the form. Whether it's his populist taste or arched-back performance athleticism that is reaching people, he is giving modern jazz a model face and clean, lean horn lines.
Redman's latest release, "Timeless Tales (for Changing Times)" summarizes what his younger fans are nodding with vigorous approval to--a clear voice that is stepping away from the past without short-shrifting it. Redman employs a series of well-chosen standards and surprises to reflect where he's been and gives them a dolled-up, virtuosic spin to direct the traffic towards where he's going. Whether we've been to the same places is irrelevant--identification may make us feel cooler, but this is very much his story, his ride.
Redman's cover choices on this, his sixth, release demonstrate the same anti-blue nose conviction that possessed Cassandra Wilson to embrace her inner dweeb and cover The Monkees a few records back. Porter and Berlin sit next to Prince and the Beatles, and the conversation is great. All of the artists Redman interprets are themselves innovators and storytellers, house names in a four-star hotel Redman hopes to check himself into someday soon.
Considering his Next Great Thing status and the miles he has driven to ensure the truth of that title, it's surprising that Redman's musical career began a mere eight years ago. Living out an Ivy kid's wet dream, he graduated from Harvard, ditched the law school plans and went on tour with his father, Dewey Redman. His first place win at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz saxophone competition snagged him a record deal with Warner Brothers, and he has been hitting the clubs and earning critical citations ever since.
Despite the acclaim his first few records were met with, it was not until 1994's "Moodswing" that he was considered an oven-hot property rather than just another microwave-ready jazz jukebox. His first record of completely original compositions, "Moodswing" specified an individual history and proved that his previous releases weren't just pilfering from a borrowed one. Redman's next two records were also originals-heavy, emphasizing the player's transition from young man to man and capturing the electricity of his live sets to stronger, bolder effect than ever before.
After having proven that he is more than a mouthpiece, the return to the cover board was a mildly surprising decision. Fortunately, Redman is persistent without being insistent. His choices never dictate what should be made into standards but reflect new ways of looking. Whether he's twisting Joni Mitchell's evocative pop foundations ("I Had A King") or ungrinding Prince ("How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore"), he builds on artists' suggestions but doesn't cater to expectation.
Assisting Redman this time out are pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Brian Blade, but it is, as always, Redman's horn, fluid and gestural, that sketches the major strokes.
A few critics have noted that "Tales"' is a bit drowsier than Redman's last few releases, containing less of his house-getting live vigor. This somberness, however, is indicative of a newfound adulthood that, judging by the album's beaming cover photo, is one Redman is clearly comfortable with. The grin behind that smile, thankfully, says that there are still histories and futures to travel.
Joshua Redman performs tonight at 8 pm in Spaulding Auditorium in Hopkins Center. The show is sold out.
Joining Redman will be Gregory Hutchinson, drums; Reuben Regera, bass and Aaron Goldberg, piano.
