Joshua Redman - Back East
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Joshua RedmanEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2007-04-24
Music Label: Nonesuch
Soundtracks:
- The Surrey With The Fridge On Top
- East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon)
- Zarafah
- Indian Song
- I'm An Old Cowhand
- Wagon Wheels
- Back East
- Mantra No.5
- Indonesia
- India
- GJ
Free Music Notes for Back East
Free Music Review: Beautiful, mature, artful, and creative. Mesmerizing.
Hit: 5 Stars
I've noticed that the jazz records that end up being jewels in my collection have one thing in common: rarely did I like any of them on my first listen.
Such is the case with "Back East," which begins as if it will disappoint, but turns into a truly masterful record, filled with subtle nuance and a mature and sophisticated style.
On first listen, the jazz trio sound is tough to digest and fully enjoy. Especially given the exotic scales that permeate this record, I felt myself yearning to hear a master of subtle harmonies like Frank Kimbrough slip into the background on the keys, providing a rich and dense harmonic soup for the frontman to swim in. However, by the second listen the artful melodic nuance and tasty bass-sax counterpoint begins to come out, and this record can be appreciated for what it truly is: a maturation of Joshua Redman's style.
Compare this to 2005's "Momentum," and the frontman's artistic development becomes apparent. The previous album featured a kicking band, a rich and thick sound, complex rhythms and barn-burning tracks; yet it doesn't come near to the mature and artful style that "Back East" achieves. This is smoky club jazz at its best: jammy yet well-crafted, artfully conceived yet raw, complex yet palatable. This album is a masterpiece.
Take for example "Zarafah," composed by Redman himself. The lush, Eastern-influenced scales give the overarching implied harmonies its character, while Redman's effortless solos make the assymetrical 5/4 meter feel as easy as breathing. While at first I was dying to hear a piano or guitar player subtly sustaining the harmonic framework, as the piece progresses the implied harmonies begin to materialize out of nothingness to create a background that is, yet isn't, there.
Other highlights include the jammy "East of the Sun," the Redman-composed "Back East," and the exuberant "I'm an Old Cowhand," which features some brilliant interplay between the members of the trio. "Mantra #5" creeps into form through the communique between Redman and Chris Cheek, sitting in on sax.
One of the best tracks on the record is "Indonesia," another Redman original, which is clearly derived from the Lydian-sounding modes typical of Balinese gamelan (which greatly influenced Debussy and other 20th-century composers), adding to the exotic flavor of the album. True to the scaled-back and nuanced style, Ali Jackson brilliantly ditches the drum kit and plays almost entirely on merely a tambourine for the entire track.
All in all, this record far surpasses "Momentum" in terms of its artistic creativity and mature style. "Momentum" is barn-burning and catchy but it tires easily; "Back East" will be a mainstay.
Back East Poster
Joshua Redman mixes originals with standards in tribute of the great sax players before him, on his new album Back East. But Redman doesn't just pay homage with these tunes, he makes them his own, adding a different sort of "eastern" feel to both the covers and his original compositions. With many special guest performers, including his own father, Redman has created a eloquent gift for the music world.Sonny Rollins's 1957 release Way Out West established the pianoless bass-sax-drum configuration. The Berkeley-raised tenor/soprano saxophonist Joshua Redman's geographically reversed tribute was recorded in New York, where his career began. It features three sets of trios, with drummers Brian Blade, Eric Harland, and Ali Jackson and bassists Rueben Rogers, Christian McBride, and Larry Grenadier. Redman's sure-headed, serpentine, and sensual saxlines upgrade the two WOW tracks "I'm an Old Cowhand" and "Wagon Wheels" with Afro-Asian rhythmic motifs. Joe Lovano, Chris Cheek, and the leader's late father Dewey Redman lend their sax sounds to selections by Redman's horn influences: "Indian Song" by Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane's "India," and the Stan Getz-associated ballad "East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)." Redman's compositions--"Mantra #5," the tantric-tempoed "Indonesia," the title track, and "GJ," a touching dedication from Joshua Redman's dad to his grandson--complete the thrilling project from this future saxophone colossus. --Eugene Holley, Jr.
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