Recording of the Week, Redman, Mehldau, McBride & Blade, 'LongGone'

Left to right: Brian Blade, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau

The roll call on LongGone, the new album by saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade, is certainly nothing to sniff at. This is the very same group that was originally formed as the Joshua Redman Quartet to record the saxophonist’s 1994 album MoodSwing, an album of Redman originals that despite being relatively early in Redman’s career still holds true to his signature voice even now; despite the praise MoodSwing garnered, it would be over 25 years before this quartet played again together. And while MoodSwing featured what was then a quartet of four young players in relatively early stages of their careers, 2020’s RoundAgain and this year’s LongGone sees those same musicians with a wealth of new experience under their belts, each member having forged a successful solo career of their own in the time since.

Credited nowadays slightly more democratically as ‘Redman/Mehldau/McBride/Blade’ – an acknowledgement of the prestige each member now holds – the second of these post-reunion records brings the quartet back towards its roots, with LongGone being composed entirely of Redman originals. His music captures the more rounded, sophisticated style of 1990s contemporary jazz while equally drawing on 1960s post-bop, and it’s his saxophone lines that lead the listener on many of these tunes, like the opening title track with his singable melodies and cool flavour. Brevity is certainly the name of the game with Redman’s tunes, and the quartet don’t over-play each other; there’s no bravado here.

It’s not just Redman who shines on this album; ‘Disco Ears’ sees Blade and McBride teaming up to nail down the tune’s subtle Latin groove feel, while the choppy rhythm on ‘Kite Song’ lays a nice foundation for Mehldau’s equally dextrous piano lines to dance around, and the swaggering rhythm of ‘Ship to Shore’ saves a moment for McBride to bust out his bass chops. The final track on the record, a live take of ‘Rejoice’, is an older tune picked from the quartet’s first outing MoodSwing – Redman introduces it as such – its slight gospel tinge and persistent bass line giving way as the tune opens up into more loose improvisation, ending to the crowd’s rapturous applause after 12 minutes of improv.

Given the climate of modern jazz leaning more towards genre-blending extremities, it’s something of a palate cleanser to hear these four old friends reconvening for a more traditional jazz effort, though that’s not to say LongGone and RoundAgain aren’t without their exciting moments; the familiarity of this quartet and years of solo work each member has spent honing their craft shows for sure, just listen out for Redman’s heated soprano sax on the aforementioned ‘Disco Ears’. What was a band of four up-and-coming underdogs in the mid-90s is now a supergroup of four of the most recognisable faces in modern jazz, and on LongGone it’s not hard to see why.