MoodSwing cover
Released

Saxophonist Joshua Redman’s third album, released in 1994, featured a band of up-and-coming peers: Brad Mehldau on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Brian Blade on drums. His first two releases had mixed originals with jazz standards and pop tunes, but he wrote everything here, and although it suffers a little from CD bloat (11 tracks in 70 minutes), the album has a consistency that matches its title. It’s cool, even somewhat reticent; Redman’s compositions are frequently simple blues riffs or short, hooky melodies (“Alone in the Morning,” a gentle samba, is an exception), and he plays them in an introspective manner reminiscent of late-period Joe Henderson. Mehldau, McBride, and Blade are a terrific rhythm section, coloring inside the lines but still conveying plenty of excitement and youthful enthusiasm, the drummer in particular. The pianist was often accused, early in his career, of being a Bill Evans acolyte, so it’s interesting to hear him drop in some Keith Jarrett moves on this record.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Unity cover

Unity

Larry Young
Little Song cover

Little Song

Steve Kuhn, Sheila Jordan, Tom Harrell
Hon cover

Hon

Huw Williams
All Our Reasons cover

All Our Reasons

Billy Hart, Ben Street, Ethan Iverson, Mark Turner
Omega cover

Omega

Immanuel Wilkins
Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble cover

Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble

Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble
NoFo Skies cover

NoFo Skies

Alex Sipiagin
Held cover

Held

Jason Rebello
Reverence cover

Reverence

Charles McPherson, Emperor