Joshua Redman
Timeless Tales (For Changing Times)
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Josh Redman and James Carter are the dueling spirits of jazz's young generation. Both are poised, self-confident saxophonists who possess an encyclopedic knowledge not just of jazz but of rock, soul and funk, as well. But that's where the similarities stop. In his playing, Redman, the son of avant-garde jazz veteran Dewey Redman, is studious and restrained, gently tugging at the edges of tradition. Carter is more like Jimi Hendrix with a saxophone: He wants to blow your mind. Those opposing approaches have never played out more clearly than now. On Timeless Tales, his sixth album, Redman and his propulsive rhythm section update the notion of jazz "standards" – in this case
Read More laying down not just Gershwin and Cole Porter tunes but songs by Bob Dylan ("The Times They Are A-Changin'"), Joni Mitchell ("I Had a King"), the Beatles ("Eleanor Rigby") and Prince ("How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"). The concept is ambitious, and Redman is as comfortable jamming over a Prince melody as he is on "Summertime." But except for a handful of inspired solos, his execution isn't inventive or forceful enough to make his versions more than lightweight novelties. On In Carterian Fashion, James Carter pays tribute to the organ-sax combos that fueled soul-jazz in the Sixties. The music is full of dense, wailing grooves, and Carter blows with swagger and charm. Particularly on originals like the frenetic, cartoonish "Skull Grabbin'" and the boplike "Frisco Follies," he and a rotating cast (including Cyrus Chestnut and his stellar Hammond organ work) add a Nineties sensibility to the soul-jazz sound – there are plenty of free-blowing, funky guitars and even sax overdubs (Carter plays soprano, tenor and baritone on "Frisco Follies"). The finest moment, though, comes in the title track, when Carter and his brother, guitarist Kevin Carter (a former member of Parliament-Funkadelic), lock into a honking, squawking funk groove that – more than Redman's covers of the Beatles, Joni or Prince – shows how hard jazz can rock. (RS 796) JASON FINE |
