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
Tuesday Wonderland cover

Tuesday Wonderland

Esbjörn Svensson Trio
Same Mother cover

Same Mother

Jason Moran
Floating Point cover

Floating Point

John McLaughlin
Sfumato cover

Sfumato

Joachim Kühn, Emile Parisien
The Magic Triangle cover

The Magic Triangle

Famoudou Don Moye, Joseph Jarman, Don Pullen
In Movement cover

In Movement

Matthew Garrison, Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane
Reverence cover

Reverence

Charles McPherson, Emperor
Rhythm and Soul cover

Rhythm and Soul

Lonnie Plaxico
Hub Cap cover

Hub Cap

Freddie Hubbard