Joshua Redman and his Double Trio—bassists Larry Grenadier and Reuben Rogers and drummers Brian Blade and Gregory Hutchinson—all of whom play together on Redman's recent Nonesuch release, Compass, play their second consecutive night at New York's Highline Ballroom tonight. New York Times critic Nate Chinen, in his review of the group's Inauguration-night performance, calls the new album "superb" and credits the set's opener, "Identity Thief," track three on the record, with setting "a distinctly exploratory tone" for the set.
On songs in which all five players participated, the doubled instruments encouraged "a spirit of looseness within the churn," says Chinen. "In the same way that double exposure can produce a blurred photographic image, Mr. Redman uses the Double Trio to soften his own hard-lined clarity. In the process he’s making some of the best music of his career."
With all of the permutations of musicians throughout the set, "Mr. Redman worked fast and fluid, never exhausting his options," Chinen explains. "At almost every turn he seemed intensely focused but unpressured and completely in command." |
