JAZZ REVIEW : Redman Justifies the Hype

A packed house greeted Joshua Redman, the much acclaimed tenor sax player, when he opened Tuesday at Catalina, where he’s appearing through Sunday. In no time at all, the 24-year-old virtuoso showed that all the hype about him is justified.

You might say that he hit the ground running, but in effect he was in midair from note one and didn’t land until the end of a dozen blistering choruses on his opening, Kenny Dorham’s “Straight Ahead.”

Redman has the three primary virtues of a great soloist: clarity of sound, continuity of lines and creativity. On the up-tempos he recalls Sonny Rollins, with hints of early Coltrane. On the soul ballad “Wish,” there were echoes of Gene Ammons and Lockjaw Davis. (There was no trace of the style of his father, Dewey Redman, who leans closer to the avant-garde.)

On a Rollins arrangement of “Just in Time” his pianist, Kevin Hays, dropped out for a couple of choruses while bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade carried the rhythm load. The intensity never lagged.

McBride, 21, revealed a superlative flow of ideas, first in a bowed solo and later in a no less phenomenal display of pizzicato finger-painting. Pianist Hays--only slightly less impressive--had the onerous task of following Redman’s wildest forays.

One problem marred an otherwise flawless set--the quartet only played five numbers. By tightening up his act he could offer a broader cross-section of his repertoire as composer and soloist.