In the early to mid-'90s, no "Young Lion" was hyped to death by jazz critics more than
Joshua Redman; to hear some critics tell it, he was as important a saxophonist as
John Coltrane,
Dexter Gordon, or
Sonny Rollins. The problem with such excessive hype is that it gives a young talent like
Redman way too much to live up to at an early age; the tenor man was only 22 when this self-titled debut album was recorded, and he needed time to grow and develop. Nonetheless,
Redman did show a lot of promise on this CD, which isn't in a class with
Coltrane's A Love Supreme or
Rollins' Saxophone Colossus (some critics really did have the audacity to make such claims) but showed
Redman to be a swinging, expressive improviser who had impressive technique as well as versatility.
Redman's playing is greatly influenced by funky, big-toned soul-jazz tenors like
Eddie Harris,
Gene Ammons, and
Red Holloway, but his probing, searching qualities bring to mind
Coltrane.
Redman's gritty soul-jazz workout on
James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" demonstrates that he isn't a stuffy neo-conservative, while his enjoyable interpretations of "Body and Soul" and
Thelonious Monk's "Trinkle Tinkle" illustrate his ability to play "in the tradition," as hard boppers are fond of saying.
Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts" is pure bop, and
Redman (whose acoustic support on this album includes pianist
Kevin Hays, bassist
Christian McBride, and drummer
Gregory Hutchinson) gets into a
Coltrane-influenced post-bop groove on his own "Sublimation."
Joshua Redman isn't a masterpiece, but it let us know that he was certainly someone to keep an eye on. ~ Alex Henderson