In his short career,
Joshua Redman
has been praised for his technical abilities and criticized for his lack of innovation -- not surprising responses to the work of a talented young artist. On
Beyond
, his seventh album which was recorded a few months after his 30th birthday, he attempts, as the title suggests, to try some new things. Employing an all new group consisting of pianist
Aaron Goldberg
, bass player
Reuben Rogers
, and drummer
Gregory Hutchinson
, he presents an album of original tunes to follow
Timeless Tales (For Changing Times)
, an album of cover material. Eschewing the pat jazz formula of a head followed by improvisations, he adopts a more free-flowing structure for his compositions in which anyone can start and the tune can develop in an open-ended fashion. He also experiments with time signatures:
"A Life?,"
the closing track, is in 5/4 time;
"Stoic Revolutions"
is in 6/4;
"Belonging (Lopsided Lullaby)"
is in 9/4;
"Suspended Emanations"
is in 10/4; and the lead-off track,
"Courage (Asymmetric Aria),"
is in 13/4. While no doubt hard to play, the tunes don' t sound all that complicated, perhaps because
Redman
's saxophone floats over the rhythm section, taking its time to make its statements. As the song titles imply, this is a contemplative album full of small, introspective pleasures, such as the exploratory
"Leap of Faith,"
on which
and
Mark Turner
engage in a tenor conversation. It's not clear that the technical challenges
presents himself and his sidemen with ultimately force them to do anything new, but
represents a gifted musician tinkering with his musical approach with often satisfying results. ~ William Ruhlmann