Nonesuch to Release Joshua Redman's New Album, "Compass," in January 2009

Browse by:
Year
Browse by:
Publish date (field_publish_date)
Submitted by nonesuch on
Article Type
Publish date
Excerpt

Saxophonist Joshua Redman’s 2007 album Back East was his first recording as the leader of an acoustic sax/bass/drums trio. The seminal 1957 Way Out West by his hero Sonny Rollins provided a conceptual impetus for Redman’s album. Among other accolades, the New York Times called Back East, “the most agile and personal record of his career.” Going one step further on concepts from that album, Redman entered the studio with four friends and colleagues—Brian Blade (drums), Larry Grenadier (bass), Gregory Hutchinson (drums), and Reuben Rogers (bass)—who, with Redman, became a rotating, and intertwining, pair of trios. Together they recorded what became Redman’s new Nonesuch album, Compass, which will be released on January 13, 2009.

Copy

Saxophonist Joshua Redman’s 2007 album Back East was his first recording as the leader of an acoustic sax/bass/drums trio. The seminal 1957 Way Out West by his hero Sonny Rollins provided a conceptual impetus for Redman’s album. Among other accolades, the New York Times's Ben Ratliff called Back East, “the most agile and personal record of his career.” Going one step further on concepts from that album, Redman entered the studio with four friends and colleagues—Brian Blade (drums), Larry Grenadier (bass), Gregory Hutchinson (drums), and Reuben Rogers (bass)—who, with Redman, became a rotating, and intertwining, pair of trios. Together they recorded what became Redman’s new Nonesuch album, Compass, which will be released on January 13, 2009.

After playing with a few different groups throughout his Back East tour, Redman became interested in expanding on the musicians in the traditional trio configuration. He went into a New York City studio last March with few plans or expectations for the sessions. “Sometimes I’m guilty, with my recordings, of having too clear a plan. This time I said, ‘Hey, I just have to let go.’ If I try to plan it, it’s not going to work, so I’ll just think about some tunes that we could do with everybody together, we’ll get in the studio and see how it goes. There was a real kind of release for me with this project, an embrace of the unfamiliar.”

As the recording date approached, Redman asked himself, “What would it be like with multiple bassists and drummers? What would it be like to do something with everybody in the room together? Common sense was telling me to stay away, that it had the makings of a big mess. All that bass and drums could end up sounding muddy, clumsy, directionless, unfocused. But my imagination kept leading me back to this idea, and, at a certain point I decided it was worth a try.”

The result is an album’s worth of original compositions by Redman and his collaborators (with the exception of “Moonlight,” an interpretation of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata), performed and recorded in both traditional and non-traditional trio formats. Six tunes are played by the standard combo of sax, bass, drums; two tracks feature sax, two bassists, and drums; and five songs include the entire lineup in a double-trio configuration. Redman and James Farber, the engineer and co-producer of the record, place the musicians in the album mix exactly as they were positioned in the studio: for example, in the “double-trio” format, with one drummer on the far left, another on the far right, and the two bassists closer to the middle.

featuredimage
Joshua Redman "Compass" [cover]
  • Friday, November 14, 2008
    Nonesuch to Release Joshua Redman's New Album, "Compass," in January 2009

    Saxophonist Joshua Redman’s 2007 album Back East was his first recording as the leader of an acoustic sax/bass/drums trio. The seminal 1957 Way Out West by his hero Sonny Rollins provided a conceptual impetus for Redman’s album. Among other accolades, the New York Times's Ben Ratliff called Back East, “the most agile and personal record of his career.” Going one step further on concepts from that album, Redman entered the studio with four friends and colleagues—Brian Blade (drums), Larry Grenadier (bass), Gregory Hutchinson (drums), and Reuben Rogers (bass)—who, with Redman, became a rotating, and intertwining, pair of trios. Together they recorded what became Redman’s new Nonesuch album, Compass, which will be released on January 13, 2009.

    After playing with a few different groups throughout his Back East tour, Redman became interested in expanding on the musicians in the traditional trio configuration. He went into a New York City studio last March with few plans or expectations for the sessions. “Sometimes I’m guilty, with my recordings, of having too clear a plan. This time I said, ‘Hey, I just have to let go.’ If I try to plan it, it’s not going to work, so I’ll just think about some tunes that we could do with everybody together, we’ll get in the studio and see how it goes. There was a real kind of release for me with this project, an embrace of the unfamiliar.”

    As the recording date approached, Redman asked himself, “What would it be like with multiple bassists and drummers? What would it be like to do something with everybody in the room together? Common sense was telling me to stay away, that it had the makings of a big mess. All that bass and drums could end up sounding muddy, clumsy, directionless, unfocused. But my imagination kept leading me back to this idea, and, at a certain point I decided it was worth a try.”

    The result is an album’s worth of original compositions by Redman and his collaborators (with the exception of “Moonlight,” an interpretation of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata), performed and recorded in both traditional and non-traditional trio formats. Six tunes are played by the standard combo of sax, bass, drums; two tracks feature sax, two bassists, and drums; and five songs include the entire lineup in a double-trio configuration. Redman and James Farber, the engineer and co-producer of the record, place the musicians in the album mix exactly as they were positioned in the studio: for example, in the “double-trio” format, with one drummer on the far left, another on the far right, and the two bassists closer to the middle.

    Journal Articles:Album ReleaseArtist News

Enjoy This Post?

Get weekly updates right in your inbox.
terms

X By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Nonesuch based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Thank you!
x

Welcome to Nonesuch's mailing list!

Customize your notifications for tour dates near your hometown, birthday wishes, or special discounts in our online store!
terms

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Nonesuch based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Related Posts

  • Thursday, March 28, 2024
    Thursday, March 28, 2024

    The original cast album of Adam Guettel’s Broadway musical Days of Wine and Roses, with a book by Craig Lucas, starring Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James, will be released on CD on May 17, following its recent digital release.  “Repeated listenings compound the amazement,” the New York Times says of Guettel’s work, which “has always offered that kind of challenge—initially leaving a feeling of: Beautiful, but wait, I need to hear it again—and those up for it have a way of coming away shining like Moses down from the Mount. The new score has the same effect.”

    Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist News
  • Friday, March 22, 2024
    Friday, March 22, 2024

    The Staves’ new album, All Now, produced by John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen), is out now, marking their debut album as the duo of Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor, after their sister Emily’s departure. “There was a delayed reaction to trauma and these big changes out of your control,” Jess says of the period after the February 2021 release of their album Good Woman, as the band—like everyone—was forced to sit with their thoughts. Struggling after two years of deep solitude and pain, The Staves did what they know how to do best: they got back to writing with the idea of going back to basics and focusing almost solely on each other and their guitars as a starting point.

    Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist News