Words Fall Short [180g LP] Joshua Redman Artist

Saxophonist {|Joshua Redman|} introduces a new quartet on his second {|Blue Note|} album, 2025's intimate yet exploratory {|Words Fall Short|}. The group initially formed as a touring unit for 2023's {|where are we|} and features Houston-born/Los Angeles-based pianist {|Paul Cornish|}, N.Y.C.-by-way-of Winnipeg bassist {|Philip Norris|}, and Philly drummer {|Nazir Ebo|}. Although they each bring a wealth of experience to the quartet, compared to {|Redman|} (an elder statesman at a youthful 56 as of this album) they are all still essentially young lions, talented twenty-somethings working within the boundaries of jazz tradition and hoping to push its boundaries at the same time. The difference makes for an exciting dynamic, one that recalls {|Miles Davis|}' second great quintet of the 1960s when he brought in younger players like {|Herbie Hancock|} and {|Tony Williams|} to get a bit of that new thing. For {|Davis|}, that new thing was harmonically expansive modalism, punctuated by moments of free improvisation. For sure, there is some of that here, as on She Knows, where {|Redman|} weaves thread after thread of interwoven soprano lines, building into a kaleidoscopic fury of throaty skronks and moans as his drummer {|Ebo|} and the band offer their own bashing retorts. Yet {|Redman|}'s goals are often more nuanced. He opens in understated fashion with A Message to Unsend, a classically influenced chamber ballad where {|Cornish|} takes the spotlight with his tender, {|Chopin|}-like piano prelude intro. His generosity extends to his band elsewhere, as on the title track, a {|Wayne Shorter|}-esque waltz whose dancerly tempo is nicely set up by {|Norris|}' warm, Middle Eastern-tinged bass solo. Other influences pop up, as on Borrowed Eyes, a slow, soulful ballad that nicely evokes saxophonist {|Joe Henderson|}'s earthy '70s recordings, while the poetically titled soprano feature Over the Jelly-Green Sea finds {|Redman|} catching a creative headwind off {|Wayne Shorter|} and {|Lee Konitz|}'s lyricism before cutting his own creative path toward the horizon. The group is also joined by several rising stars, including tenor saxophonist {|Melissa Aldana|}, who spars with boxer-like pugnacity with {|Redman|} on So It Goes. Elsewhere, trumpeter {|Skylar Tang|} conjures the spirit of {|Roy Hargrove|} on the minor-key Latin piece Icarus, while vocalist {|Gabrielle Cavassa|} (the star of {|where are we|}) brings a warm resonance and a little throaty grit to the moody Era's End. While it doesn't feel like {|Redman|} is looking to completely redefine his sound here, he sounds engaged and encouraged to explore new sonic areas. He's never been one to sit still creatively, and his work on {|Words Fall Short|} speaks to his ability to both draw from his idols and from his quartet while pushing himself beyond his comfort zone. ~ Matt Collar