NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Saxophonist and acclaimed jazz artist Joshua Redman has signed to Blue Note Records, the legendary label of Jazz Since 1939. Redman will release his Blue Note debut, Where Are We, this Fall and will be touring the project across the US and Europe following the album’s release.
“I am so deeply honored and just flat-out thrilled to be joining the Blue Note family,” says Redman. “Blue Note albums have forever been an essential part of my musical (and spiritual) life — since well before I realized I even had one! So with equal parts gratitude and giddiness, I look forward to embarking on this new phase in my recording journey, along with one of the greatest labels of all time.”
“Over the last three decades, Joshua Redman has set the bar for courageous musical innovation and soulful expression,” says Blue Note President Don Was. “He is the living embodiment of the Blue Note ethos, and it’s a dream come true to welcome him to the label.”
Born in Berkeley, CA, Redman is the son of legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman and dancer Renee Shedroff. He was exposed at an early age to a plethora of music (jazz, classical, rock, soul, Indian, Indonesian, Middle Eastern, African) and instruments (recorder, piano, guitar, gatham, gamelan), and began playing clarinet at age nine before switching to what became his primary instrument, the tenor saxophone, one year later.
In 1991 Redman graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude with a B.A. in Social Studies. Yale Law School had already accepted him but deferred entrance for what he believed would only be one year. Some of his musician friends had recently relocated to Brooklyn, and they were looking for another housemate to help with the rent. Redman accepted their invitation to move in, and almost immediately, he immersed himself in the New York jazz scene.
Redman was quickly signed by Warner Bros. Records and issued his self-titled debut album in the spring of 1993, which earned Redman his first Grammy nomination. That fall, he released Wish, where Redman was joined by the all-star cast of Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. MoodSwing followed in 1994 and introduced his first permanent band, which included three other young musicians who have become some of the most influential artists in modern jazz: pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade.
