Joshua Redman acknowledges that the title of his new Blue Note album, Words Fall Short, could be viewed ironically. His previous and widely acclaimed where are we was his first to pair a vocalist with one of his many monumental Quartets; yet Words Fall Short is anything but a comment on the saxophonist’s last triumph. More accurately, his latest offering is an organic next step, a collection of previously unheard originals brought to life by inspiring new collaborators. “It’s impossible for me to will a project into being,” he says of the wide-ranging adventures he has embarked upon what is now his fourth decade as a recording artist. “This album came out of a working environment that inspired me to dig into compositions that hadn’t found a home yet.”
Redman’s unheard new music made the transition in September 2024, when his new quartet had logged almost a year of performances. “We were at a soundcheck, and I decided to try one of the tunes. It felt good, and I said, ‘Let’s try another.’ After we ran through maybe three more in ten minutes, I realized that we were ‘ready.’”
Cornish, Norris, and Ebo impress on each of the album’s eight tracks. While they have moments to emerge and take the spotlight, they also provide a distinctive ensemble personality, one in which spontaneity and sensitivity keep the music fluid yet coherent. They are a rhythm section with character, one in sync with the priorities of their leader. “My approach to bandleading is unchanged,” Redman says. “Play with the best musicians I can find, virtuosos who have mastered all the different jazz vocabularies, but who are also great listeners and collaborators — who know how to express their individual brilliance through group improvisation and collective interaction.”
For Joshua Redman, the shifting moods of wistfulness, aspiration, sadness and resolve contained in Words Fall Short signify his embrace of what he describes as “the beauty of human imperfection. We face huge questions about what our future looks like,” he stresses, “and a mathematical approach to language has even left us questioning what it means to be ‘intelligent’ or ‘productive’ or ‘creative.’ At heart I’m a humanist, and I believe in the shadows of the words, the things you can’t crunch with technology.” Words Fall Short is Redman’s latest exploration of the words — and the shadows.
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