Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride & Brian Blade Reunite After 26 Years with July 10 Release of "RoundAgain"

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The members of the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—reunite with the July 10, 2020, release of RoundAgain, the group’s first recording since 1994’s MoodSwing. The album features seven newly composed songs: three from Redman, two from Mehldau, and one each from McBride and Blade. A live version of Redman’s “Right Back Round Again” may be seen here, in a video directed by Matthew Beighley; the album version is available now. The band tours internationally this summer and fall.

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The members of the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—reunite with the July 10, 2020 release of RoundAgain, the group’s first recording since 1994’s MoodSwing. The album features seven newly composed songs: three from Redman, two from Mehldau, and one each from McBride and Blade. A live version of Redman’s “Right Back Round Again” may be seen below, in a video directed by Matthew Beighley; the album version is available today here along with the album pre-order. The band, which formed when its now legendary members were new to New York City’s jazz scene, tours internationally this summer and fall; see below for details and visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

Redman says of his first group as a bandleader, which was together for approximately a year and a half: “I realized almost immediately that this band wouldn’t stay together for very long. They were without a doubt, for our generation, among the most accomplished and innovative on their respective instruments. They were already all in such high demand—everyone wanted to play with them! And they all had such strong and charismatic musical personalities—destined to start soon pursuing their own independent visions. I knew better than anyone else just how incredibly lucky I was to have even that short time with them.” 

In the intervening decades, each has played with one or more of the others on various occasions, but all four had never properly reunited. “I knew it would happen, but I didn’t know when,” Redman admits. “We were all so busy, and we needed the space, both in our schedules and in our creative development.”

“We would have done it ten years ago if it were up to me,” Mehldau insists. “Josh, Christian, and Brian are all my heroes. It’s like playing with The Avengers.” 

Blade adds, “This band is like a turntable where the stylus was lifted but the turntable is still spinning. We just had to drop the needle, and there we were with all of the information we had gathered. It has gotten deeper because of life itself, and because Joshua, Brad, and Christian plumb the depths every day.” 

“These guys have grown exponentially,” McBride insists. “They are super-monsters now, and playing with them gave me a hard look at myself. And when you’re intimate creating art, even if you don’t play together for twenty years, you only need two bars to realize what the feeling is about, because the feeling never leaves.”

ROUNDAGAIN ON TOUR

Jul 8 Klub Stodola Warsaw, POLAND
Jul 9 Barbican Hall London, UK
Jul 10 Tonhalle Zurich, SWITZERLAND
Jul 11 North Sea Jazz Festival Rotterdam, NETHERLNDS
Jul 13 Odeon of Herodes Atticus Athens, GREECE
Jul 14 Istanbul Jazz Festival Istanbul, TURKEY
Jul 16 Arena Santa Giuliana Perugia, ITALY
     
Sep 26 Monterey Jazz Festival Monterey, CA
Sep 27 Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles, CA
Oct 2&3 Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center New York, NY
     
featuredimage
Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Brian Blade: "RoundAgain" [cover]
  • Tuesday, March 24, 2020
    Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride & Brian Blade Reunite After 26 Years with July 10 Release of "RoundAgain"

    The members of the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—reunite with the July 10, 2020 release of RoundAgain, the group’s first recording since 1994’s MoodSwing. The album features seven newly composed songs: three from Redman, two from Mehldau, and one each from McBride and Blade. A live version of Redman’s “Right Back Round Again” may be seen below, in a video directed by Matthew Beighley; the album version is available today here along with the album pre-order. The band, which formed when its now legendary members were new to New York City’s jazz scene, tours internationally this summer and fall; see below for details and visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

    Redman says of his first group as a bandleader, which was together for approximately a year and a half: “I realized almost immediately that this band wouldn’t stay together for very long. They were without a doubt, for our generation, among the most accomplished and innovative on their respective instruments. They were already all in such high demand—everyone wanted to play with them! And they all had such strong and charismatic musical personalities—destined to start soon pursuing their own independent visions. I knew better than anyone else just how incredibly lucky I was to have even that short time with them.” 

    In the intervening decades, each has played with one or more of the others on various occasions, but all four had never properly reunited. “I knew it would happen, but I didn’t know when,” Redman admits. “We were all so busy, and we needed the space, both in our schedules and in our creative development.”

    “We would have done it ten years ago if it were up to me,” Mehldau insists. “Josh, Christian, and Brian are all my heroes. It’s like playing with The Avengers.” 

    Blade adds, “This band is like a turntable where the stylus was lifted but the turntable is still spinning. We just had to drop the needle, and there we were with all of the information we had gathered. It has gotten deeper because of life itself, and because Joshua, Brad, and Christian plumb the depths every day.” 

    “These guys have grown exponentially,” McBride insists. “They are super-monsters now, and playing with them gave me a hard look at myself. And when you’re intimate creating art, even if you don’t play together for twenty years, you only need two bars to realize what the feeling is about, because the feeling never leaves.”

    ROUNDAGAIN ON TOUR

    Jul 8 Klub Stodola Warsaw, POLAND
    Jul 9 Barbican Hall London, UK
    Jul 10 Tonhalle Zurich, SWITZERLAND
    Jul 11 North Sea Jazz Festival Rotterdam, NETHERLNDS
    Jul 13 Odeon of Herodes Atticus Athens, GREECE
    Jul 14 Istanbul Jazz Festival Istanbul, TURKEY
    Jul 16 Arena Santa Giuliana Perugia, ITALY
         
    Sep 26 Monterey Jazz Festival Monterey, CA
    Sep 27 Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles, CA
    Oct 2&3 Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center New York, NY
         

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