1. Uncharted
2. Faraway
3. Identity Thief
4. Just Like You
5. Hutchhiker's Guide
6. Ghost
7. Insomnomaniac
8. Moonlight
9. Un Peu Fou
10. March
11. Round Reuben
12. Little Ditty
13. Through The Valley
Joshua Redman - Tenor sax, soprano sax
Larry Grenadier - Bass (tracks 1-6, 8, 10, 12, 13)
Reuben Rogers - Bass (tracks 1, 3, 4, 7-13)
Brian Blade - Drums (tracks 2-4, 6, 8-13)
Gregory Hutchinson - Drums (tracks 1, 2-5, 7, 8, 10, 12)
As the recording date approached, Redman asked himself,
"What would it be like with multiple bassists and drummers?
What would it be like to do something with everybody in the room together?
Common sense was telling me to stay away, that it had the makings
of a big mess".
Thus the press release describes Joshua Redman's feelings
before this recording session. He should have listened to common sense,
as the resulting album strikes me mainly as a mess. Joshua wrote most
of the compositions on the CD but, apart from Faraway, they
are unmemorable and frequently bitty or repetitive (or both). For
instance, Insomnomaniac consists primarily of an irritating
riff but no genuine melody. Round Reuben starts off as a respectable
bebop theme but degenerates into chaos. Even Moonlight (an
adaptation of part of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata) sounds
vague and unfocused. Many tracks give the impression of disorderly
free jazz, whether they were planned or not.
I don't doubt that all those involved are fine musicians,
and I have admired their work in other contexts but very little here
seems to jell into satisfactory jazz. The press information tells
us that Joshua thought: "Sometimes I'm guilty, with my recordings,
of having too clear a plan. This time I said, 'Hey, I just have to
let go'. If I try to plan it, it's not going to work". But it
doesn't work. With this album, Joshua Redman seems to have lost the
compass.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Concord
0888072306301
