A ‘Wish’ From Jazz’s Bright Star

Joshua Redman is on a roll.

The 24-year-old tenor saxophonist, who is being hailed by fans and critics alike as the brightest young performer in jazz, started off this year making an album with organist Melvin Rhyne, who was guitar great Wes Montgomery’s accompanist for many years.

Then came the spring release of his debut Warner Bros. album, “Joshua Redman,” and cross-country tour that resulted in a blizzard of kudos from the media and many sold-out appearances.

Now, after more albums with sax ace Joe Lovano and drummer Paul Motian and European tours, Redman is barnstorming again. This time he’s leading an all-star quartet with guitarist Pat Metheny, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Billy Higgins and offering music from his second Warner album, “Wish.” The group plays tonight at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.

“I’m having a blast,” Redman said in a phone conversation from a recent tour stop in Albuquerque, N.M.

The foursome has been playing small and medium-sized venues, such as Catalina in Hollywood and the Coach House, as it moves across the United States. At Catalina, where the group played earlier this week, fans yelled at the musicians throughout Monday’s late show, and offered a cheering standing ovation at the set’s conclusion. Redman observed that “this kind of response is not typical of a jazz audience.”

When asked why the band worked so well together, the normally fast-talking Redman, son of noted tenor player Dewey Redman, demurred. “Answering that involves putting music into words, and I don’t like to do that,” he said.

Then, after thinking a moment, he found an explanation that suited him.

“There’s a kind of good-natured, generous emotional energy in this group,” he said. “Everyone is very extroverted in a positive sense, meaning open and giving, and there’s an overt kind of intensity. Too, there’s a real sense of play, like playfulness, a sense of humor about what we do, but serious too. We have a lot of fun, and people sense that.”

Redman said there is a considerable difference between the performances on “Wish,” which was recorded a little more than a year ago with Metheny, Higgins and bassist Charlie Haden, and the current quartet’s live engagements.

The recording is a pleasing assortment of Redman and Metheny originals, plus covers of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven,” Stevie Wonder’s compelling ‘Make Sure You’re Sure” and Charlie Parker’s “Moose the Mooche.”

“I think the album is subtle compared to the live version,” he said. “On record, the music is softer . . . more romantic, whereas live it’s more festive, celebratory. But in both there’s an emotional energy that’s very much on the surface, that’s very accessible. A kind of spirit and energy that’s easy to tap into.”

Redman met Metheny through his father, who is still active on the jazz scene and who had played on Metheny’s “80/81” album in 1980. “I was 11 when I was at Keystone Korner in San Francisco when my dad was playing with Pat, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian,” Redman said.

“I saw Pat and told my dad, ‘He doesn’t seem like a jazz musician,’ and my dad said, ‘Just wait till you hear him.’ And from the first note, there was this voice on the guitar that I had never heard before. I was blown away.”

Higgins, who has appeared on hundreds of albums with everyone from Ornette Coleman and Dexter Gordon to Jackie McLean and Metheny, “has this intuitive sense of music and harmony, of blending in, of giving of himself to what’s happening around him,” the saxophonist said.

The current quartet tour concludes in Seattle on Monday. Then Redman and Metheny will tour Europe in a quartet he leads with drummer Roy Haynes, followed by some engagements with his regular quartet: pianist Brian Mehldau,, bassist McBride and drummer Brian Blade.

“I’m looking forward to playing with my other band, but not because I’m looking forward to getting away from this one,” Redman said. “I love this band.”

* Joshua Redman’s quartet, with Pat Metheny, Christian McBride and Billy Higgins play tonight at 8 at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. $19.50. (714) 496-8930.