The second album from Joshua Redman's reunited '90s quartet, 2022's LongGone is another warmly relaxed affair showcasing the group's seasoned sophistication. When they first debuted on 1994's Moodswing, they were a cadre of up-and-coming young lions. Almost 30 years later, the lineup of saxophonist Redman, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade is essentially a supergroup of four of the most acclaimed and recognizable jazz musicians of their generation. It's not just that each of them are ...
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The second album from Joshua Redman's reunited '90s quartet, 2022's LongGone is another warmly relaxed affair showcasing the group's seasoned sophistication. When they first debuted on 1994's Moodswing, they were a cadre of up-and-coming young lions. Almost 30 years later, the lineup of saxophonist Redman, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade is essentially a supergroup of four of the most acclaimed and recognizable jazz musicians of their generation. It's not just that each of them are uber-talented improvisers, which is certainly true. It's that they've grown into four solo artists, primarily for their work as leaders, each with a distinctive and influential style of their own. All of which makes their decision to reunite (as they first did on 2020's RoundAgain) such a delightfully democratic surprise. As with RoundAgain, there's a sense of jovial familiarity about LongGone, as if the quartet just picked up where they left off with MoodSwing. It's a vibe that's particularly apparent on "Kite Song," a rambling composition with a spindly Paul Desmond-esque melody that nicely evokes the title as Redman and Mehldau tumble as if through clouds, dipping into jaunty swing, folky asides, flourishes of atonal classicism. Also engaging, the opening title track is a tough midtempo swinger in which Redman dances with lithe athleticism over McBride and Blade's fat trampoline groove. We also get "Disco Ears," a wicked modal swinger in the late-'60s hard bop style, while the classical-inflected ballad "Statuesque" moves with spare, stentorian reverence as if the band are playing to a black-and-white slideshow of images from their past. Most of LongGone feels deeply organic, with Redman and his bandmates feeding off each other and working to build something cohesive and bigger than their individual contributions. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
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