Dewey Redman 1931-2006
Dewey Redman died last Saturday, September 2, in Brooklyn. I’d just made a list of saxophone elder statesmen the previous weekend and I didn’t even think to include him because, honestly, I never would have guessed he was 75 years old. In fact he was several months older than Sonny Rollins, who celebrated his 75th this Thursday (which sparked me to make that list). But Dewey’s recording career started later, and his first album as a leader didn’t come until 1966. The following year, he moved to New York City from San Francisco and joined the band of Ornette Coleman (whom he’d known since they were in high school together in Fort Worth, TX). He made only fourteen albums under his own name, nowhere near as many as he deserved, and sadly one of the best, The Struggle Continues (ECM), has lapsed from availability. At the latter end of his career, Dewey was overshadowed by his son, Joshua Redman, though that was just a matter of major label publicity budgets: True jazz fans knew Dewey could outplay his offspring by a wide margin in any style.
On this 1973 free jazz classic, Dewey plays tenor sax (his main instrument, which he sometimes talks/sings through), alto sax, and musette (an ancient double reed found in many cultures), and the excellent band is also versatile: Ted Daniel (trumpet, bugle), Jane Robertson (cello), Sirone (bass, wood flute), Eddie Moore (drum set, gong, saw, timpani), and Danny Johnson (percussion on three tracks). It’s not freeform; in particular, “PS” is a carefully composed piece, and all the tracks are specific moods and styles, including the blues “Boody” (you can’t be a tenor saxophonist from Texas and not know how to play the blues effectively). On CD, there’s now bonus material: four tracks of 1974’s Coincide, most notably the modal groover “Qow.” (Hunt down the LP to hear Dewey on clarinet, his first instrument, on “Somnifacient.”)
Redman is joined by pianist Geri Allen, bassist Cameron Brown, and Moore on this 1989 session. There’s a lot of variety: Redman plays alto sax on the standard “If I Should Lose You,” plays the blues on “Blues for J.A.M. Part 1,” goes way outside on “Mirror Windows,” nods to a fellow master on John Coltrane’s “Lazy Bird,” and avant-bop on two Dewey originals.
Dewey Redman/Ed Blackwell – Red and Black in Willisau (Black Saint)
This is a tenor sax/drum duo album (with Redman switching to musette for one track) recorded at a 1980 jazz festival. As annotator Art Lange perceptively notes, Blackwell’s drum sound is darker than most drummers’, and not only does this make his playing less tiring to listeners’ ears than the trebly, piercing norm, it makes him more of an equal partner in the sonic spectrum. The epitome of this is when Redman and Blackwell play the melody of “Willisee” in unison. There’s a whole mini-genre of sax/drum duets, and this disc stands proudly among the best of them, overflowing with creativity and soul.
Old and New Dreams was the intermittant convening of four former members of Ornette Coleman bands: Redman, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell (now Haden is the last surviving member). They played a mix of Ornette tunes and their own originals, not a “ghost band” but a continuation of one of the most important new jazz styles of the past 50 years. The near-telepathy that made the original Coleman Quartet so special is recreated on this 1976 studio session, with Redman and Cherry a perfect team.
The quartet’s 1979 album was recorded in concert and leads with one of Coleman’s most famous pieces, “Lonely Woman.”
The final testament of the group, recorded at a 1987 festival honoring Blackwell. The program is more Coleman-centric (three out of five tracks), but Redman’s piece “Dewey’s Tune” is a highlight.
I wrote the liner notes for this two-CD set of a 1992 concert. Issuing it was something of a tribute to the recently deceased Blackwell, whose widow had made the tapes available to the label, and in my notes I strove mightily to counteract the obvious impression almost any listener would have: Redman is the star of this set. Yes, Blackwell is as usual a genius drummer, and bassist Brown is superb as well, but Redman’s spectacular improvising is the focus. (There, I’ve finally admitted it.) Nice touch: the version of Charlie Parker’s “Dewey Square.”
Dewey Redman/Cecil Taylor/Elvin Jones – Momentum Space (Verve)
An all-star session from 1998. The most characteristic highlights from Redman are an avant-bop duo with drummer Jones and a brief, highly vocal unaccompanied piece at the end. Elsewhere, the players have to fit into Taylor’s frenetic, high-energy, atonal style, but do so with their distinctive personalities intact. Redman is heard frequently and gets to exhibit the full range of his imagination in notes, rhythms, and timbres, and the album opens to brilliant effect with the album’s second-longest track, Redman’s “Nine.”
No, I’m not cheating including two albums here: They come from the same sessions – and if Blue Note had compiled the master takes, they’d fill just one CD. However, both takes of “Broad Way Blues” (Love Call) are thrilling as Ornette on alto and Dewey on tenor (supported by the rhythm section of Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones) spar with passion and humor. Of special interest is Redman’s most burningly outside playing, on “Airborne” (New York Is Now!).
Now I am cheating, but for good reason. Jarrett’s “American Quartet” with Redman, Haden, and drummer Paul Motian (sometimes augmented by guitarist Sam Brown and percussionists Guilherme Franco and Danny Johnson) was among the finest jazz groups of the period, and Redman was a crucial component. The nine CDs of these two box sets contain eight albums. The group’s 1977 album on ECM, the harrowing The Survivors’ Suite, also features Redman at the top of his game.
