Word: redman
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Early '80s rap group Run DMC heads the list of possible acts, joined by the Cowboy Junkies, Luscious Jackson, Redman, Doug E. Fresh, the Samples, God Street Wine, 1995 Springfest headliners G-Love and Special Sauce, as well as two more costly acts, the Wallflowers and They Might Be Giants...
...this fall. In terms of freshmen, there's the ska band the Blue Beats, whose Dance with Me (October) will be released on tiny Moon Records, and vocalist Madeleine Peyroux, whose Dreamland (Oct. 1) is an enchanting mix of jazz, country and blues. As for returning upperclassmen, saxman Joshua Redman's Freedom in the Groove (Sept. 24) is wonderfully listenable, and the reformed New Edition's Home Again (Sept. 10) no doubt aims to recreate the R.-and-B. group's old chart appeal...
Still, authenticity is served. All the numbers are built on the era's vintage tunes and formats--the loose, buoyant ensembles (Moten Swing and a hypnotically undulating Pagin' the Devil), the "cutting sessions" (Yeah, Man, a fiery face-off between the tenor saxes of Redman and Craig Handy), the crescendoing call-and-response riff patterns (I Left My Baby, whipped to a fervent pitch by Curtis Fowlkes' swaggering trombone), the galloping flag wavers (Lafayette, a raucous vehicle for trumpet soloists Nicholas Payton, James Zollar and Olu Dara) and the rococo after-hours ballads (I Surrender Dear, in which James Carter...
...said, it's a gas. The mix of 21 musicians includes veteran players whose stylistic roots go back to Kansas City and beyond--alto saxophonist David ("Fathead") Newman Jr., drummer Victor Lewis--and younger stars who actually seem to enjoy paying their respects to tradition--tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, guitarist Mark Whitfield, bassist Christian McBride. On track after track, soloists of different generations find a common groove. On Froggy Bottom, altoist Newman, 66, and guitarist Whitfield, 29, turn out to speak the same blues language, lyrical as well as funky. One of the CD's two versions of Solitude...
...Marsalis champions core values: master the instrument, study the greats such as Monk and Ellington and dress and comport yourself with the dignity the music deserves. Though the battle for the music's soul goes on, the success of other young jazz stars in the '90s, from saxophonist Joshua Redman to pianist Eric Reed, is proof of Marsalis' influence. "I've played 150 concerts a year for 15 years," he says. "It helped to rebuild the jazz audience. Younger musicians see you play, and they get inspired to practice. Older musicians, maybe their confidence has sagged a little...