Redman, Mehldau, McBride, Blade, Disco Ears, Nonesuch ****

Nary a glitterball in sight. Track of the day, masters at work and brand new in the marlbank 1 Love spot is 'Disco Ears'. New from the 1990s sax-plus-rhythm section supergroup - in other words the quartet of Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian …

Published: 13 Jul 2022. Updated: 21 months.

Nary a glitterball in sight. Track of the day, masters at work and brand new in the marlbank 1 Love spot is 'Disco Ears'. New from the 1990s sax-plus-rhythm section supergroup - in other words the quartet of Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride and Brian Blade landing a couple of years on from the well-received RoundAgain.

longgone-1200x628

Incredibly warm - Redman leading on super fluent soprano saxophone - but never trite, you should not overthink your attitude to this melodically rich charmer that sounds contemporary even when it borrows so much from the 1990s. Instead let the ripples it releases wash all over you. Suddenly the world seems a better place as you swim into its harbour and shelter from the storm.

If the Wish and even better the Moodswing approach (the albums that made Josh Redman's name) ain't broke and it certainly ain't - there's no need at all to fix it. Drawn from September's wryly titled LongGone.

Top in the header photo from left-to-right - Brian Blade, Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride. Photo: Michael Wilson

Tags:

Candid to release a new Wayne Shorter live album in September

A 2017 live recording made at the Detroit Jazz Festival is to be released on the revived Candid label by Wayne Shorter with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, pianist Leo Genovese and double bassist Esperanza Spalding. Geri Allen's 'Drummer's Song' …

Published: 13 Jul 2022. Updated: 21 months.

Next post

A 2017 live recording made at the Detroit Jazz Festival is to be released on the revived Candid label by Wayne Shorter with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, pianist Leo Genovese and double bassist Esperanza Spalding.

Geri Allen's 'Drummer's Song' (a composition that appeared on the album Open On All Sides - In The Middle (Minor Music, 1987) from the release is streaming.

Wayne Shorter (88) who has composed an opera in recent years with Esperanza no longer plays concerts. And this was one of his last.

The album includes 'Endangered Species', 'Encontros e Despedidas,' the Allen piece mentioned above and Shorter's 'Midnight In Carlotta’s Hair,' a piece included on the subsequent Grammy-winning 1995-released High Life album.

The Detroit performance release is dedicated to the memory of Geri Allen who died in 2017 and was to have been part of the group. The vinyl version among the issuing formats includes a piece with a Shakespearean resonance in the titling called 'The Stuff That Dreams Are Made of (a Conversation).'

Wayne Shorter in 1964, photo: Francis Wolff