With his latest quartet, Joshua Redman moves forward by stepping back

For more than three decades, saxophonist Joshua Redman has primarily been the main melodic lead instrument in his quartets. But a few years ago for the album “Where Are We” (Blue Note), he shared that role with singer Gabrielle Cavassa, who will be his guest at his SCP Jazz concert on Nov. 7. The pairing helped ignite other new collaborations that have shaped his recent “Words Fail Short” (also on Blue Note). But Redman had a basic reason for letting Cavassa step to the front.

“I love the human voice, who doesn’t? It’s the most beautiful instrument in the world,” Redman said. “Gabrielle has a particularly beautiful example of the instrument. So this was a great demotion.”

Redman especially valued how Cavassa has caused him to think deeper about his own approach.

“The tonal quality of her voice, the texture is so lush and rich,” he said. “There’s so much texture in her voice, the nuance and the expressiveness that she can generate and tap into is really striking. So just being able to play with her and listen to her has expanded my tonal palette and expressive palette as a saxophonist and made me into a more lyrical, melodic and expressive player.”

“Where Are We” is structured around Redman’s personalized takes on songs from myriad genres, such as Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia” and a new Count Basie/Sufjan Stevens mashup called “Chicago Blues.” But the album also includes the saxophonist’s riveting “After Minneapolis (Face Toward Mo(u)rning),” which was written in response to the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which sparked protests worldwide. “Words Fall Short” emphasizes Redman’s evolving writing process.

“A lot of the songs I wrote when I was younger, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is so bad,’ ” Redman said. “But there are a few stick around, and there’s something to be said when there’s a certain kind of innocence and naïveté when it comes to, well, life. But also to the language of music and there are certain things that I wouldn’t do now because they wouldn’t feel genuine, because it’s almost like I’ve become too sophisticated for that, or whatever. The main difference is before when I was writing, I would wait for what I felt was a really good idea: a melody, a bass line, chord sequence, and that would inspire me and I would flesh it out. That, I can’t do anymore. If I was waiting around for an epiphany, I would never write another song. So I have to force myself to just start writing.”

On “Where Are We,” most of the band consisted of Redman’s longtime peers. Since those musicians were too busy for extended road trips, he needed to assemble a younger group for touring with Cavassa. The resulting rhythm section — pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Philip Norris and drummer Nazir Ebo — became featured on “Words Fall Short.” These musicians are a generation younger than Redman, and he appreciates their different outlook.

"They’re all young, but they’re playing music that is very mature, in a way: slower, softer, more delicate, intimate,” Redman said. “It’s not blazing young guns’ music. It requires a lot of sensitivity and humility, patience and deep listening and in that sense, Paul, Philip, Nazir, they’re young, and each has the benefits of being young — fast bodies and minds and great retention. They’re strong, quick with a lot of fire and a lot of energy but each is also a really mature, sensitive musician.”

That sensibility comes through on the lyrical “Borrowed Eyes” when the rhythm section subtly provides the ideal spaces for Redman.

“I played that song with other bands, and it was always good, but it never quite felt deep and settled enough. It’s a slow song, it has bit of a backbeat and has a soul ballad feel. It’s very easy with that song to get into a thing where you overplay it, because it’s soulful and bluesy, and there’s this tendency to scream the blues, as it were, on that song. But the ability to play with intensity, depth and energy, but to keep it grounded and settled and maintain this serenity and calm, that is something that I feel Paul, Philip and Nazir were able to do exceptionally well and restrain me — which is not easy to do.”

Redman’s beginnings in music would put him in a distinctive position as a leader for a group of these younger artists. His saxophonist father, Dewey Redman, was a key player in the jazz evolutions in the 1960s and 1970s. Along with this lineage, Joshua Redman credited many of his father’s legendary colleagues — such as bassist Charlie Haden and pianist McCoy Tyner — with offering crucial early mentorship. But Redman said they led by example and not through spoken directive. He has a similar outlook toward showing his current band what matters.

“I really don’t feel any different playing with these musicians, musicians half my age, with musicians who are my age,” Redman said. “My attitude when I get on the bandstand and my approach are the same: ‘How can I connect with these musicians? How can I be a part of the group sound and the story we’re trying to tell?’ Be as present in the moment, as free, genuine, honest and creative as I can be. That doesn’t change.”