Celebrating over 30 years at the forefront of jazz, Grammy-nominated saxophonist, composer and bandleader Joshua Redman returns to Judson’s Live with Words Fall Short—his bold new Blue Note release and highly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed, where are we.

Redman’s latest offering unveils a collection of previously unheard originals—compositions born during the solitude of the pandemic and brought to life with a dynamic new trio of talents. “This album came out of a working environment that inspired me to dig into pieces that hadn’t yet found a home,” he reflects. Drawn to a new generation of players, Redman assembled a rhythm section featuring bassist Philip Norris, drummer Nazir Ebo, and pianist Paul Cornish—musicians whose fresh perspectives helped shape the album’s sound. “Until I can play a tune with other human beings,” Redman notes, “it remains more theory than reality.”

Cornish, Norris, and Ebo each have moments to emerge and take the spotlight, while also providing 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 signify his embrace of what he describes as “the beauty of human imperfection” in Words Fall Short. “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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