Album Review: Joshua Redman- Still Dreaming

Although I’ve seen him perform five times in the last eight years, I don’t track Joshua Redman’s every move.  So I was stunned by what I heard when I cued up Still Dreaming, the saxophonist’s new album with trumpeter Ron Miles, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade.

The abrasive barrage of Ornette Coleman harmolodics was a wholly unexpected but entirely welcome surprise.  Only after my initial 40-minute listening session concluded did I investigate the impetus for the album.  It’s inspired by Old and New Dreams, the estimable project that included Redman’s father Dewey. 

The interplay on Still Dreaming is slightly more reserved than the wild-eyed attack of Old and New Dreams.  Even so, it’s remarkably prickly.  Hearing Redman play this bracing material in his appearance in the 2018-19 season of the Folly Jazz Series promises to be thrilling.


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I reviewed a concert by the Charles Williams Trio at Plastic Sax.

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Roger Clark, the drummer on classic Muscle Shoals tracks by the likes of Clarence Carter and Bocephus, has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Big Scoob’s Duality couldn’t have been issued on a worse day.  Released alongside Pusha T’s highly anticipated Daytona, the Kansas City rapper’s Duality suffers in comparison.  Few men rap better than King Push, and no one creates more interesting beats than Kanye West.

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The best thing that can be said of Stone Temple Pilots’ new self-titled album is that it doesn’t desecrate the memory of the late Scott Weiland.  Sterile production limits the possibilities of the solid songs.

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Yelena Eckemoff’s hot streak continues.  Desert is astounding, partly because of the presence of the multi-instrumentalist Paul McCandless, bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Peter Erskine.  RIYL: Oregon, underdogs, John Surman.

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I’m all about the liberation theology espoused by Ry Cooder on The Prodigal Son.  The many people who rail against Christianity on my social media feeds would be surprised to learn that the anti-capitalist, pro-reconciliation messages embedded in The Prodigal Son reflect the preaching I hear at my mainstream Protestant church on Sundays.  RIYL: Warren Zevon, Jesus, Woody Guthrie. 

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Ray Price, 1926-2013

Now blue ain't the word for the way that I feel…

I had a rocky relationship with my dad.  The outlaw country of Waylon, Willie, Kris and Bocephus was one of the few things we could agree on.   My dad also kept a more conventional hits collection by Ray Price in regular rotation.  I've continued to love those songs in the two decades since my dad died.  I saw Price for the first time at Knuckleheads in 2007.  Although I was "working," I shed simultaneous tears of joy and grief during much of the legend's vital concert.  Here's a representative performance.  Price died earlier this week.

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I reviewed concerts by Steel Panther and Stone Temple Pilots.

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I played music by Terri Lyne Carrington, Bobby Rush, Brandy Clark, Frank Wess and Stik Figa on KCUR's Up To Date yesterday.

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Guitarist Dave Higgs, a founding member of Eddie and the Hot Rods, has died.  (Tip via Big Steve.)

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My favorite tracks on the The 12 Days of Christmas (and Voting) compilation are by the Doo-Dads and Making Movies.

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Because the Internet is the first Childish Gambino recording that speaks to me.  RIYL: emo rap, sad guys, Kid Cudi.

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I can't stop thinking about last month's spectacular Kanye West concert.  An intriguing detail- ambient music including Burial's "U.K." provided the low-key soundtrack to the construction of the imposing mountain that served as West's backdrop.

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There will always be a place in my life for albums like Scott Hamilton's Swedish Ballads… and More. RIYL: Ben Webster, moldy figs, Coleman Hawkins.

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"As the Palaces Burn", the new documentary about Lamb of God, looks great.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)