Joshua Redman Shares ‘Baltimore’ From New Album ‘Where Are We’
The acclaimed saxophonist and composer’s new record is out on Blue Note on September 15.
Joshua Redman has released “Baltimore,” the second single from the acclaimed saxophonist’s forthcoming Blue Note debut where are we due out September 15.
One of two instrumental tracks on the album, “Baltimore,” was written by the classically influenced songwriter Gabriel Kahane and is given a transcendent performance by Redman’s quartet featuring pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Joe Sanders, and drummer Brian Blade. You can check it out below.
Where are we is a musical journey across the United States of America that also marks Redman’s first-ever album featuring a vocalist—the dynamic young singer Gabrielle Cavassa—who is featured throughout as heard on the album’s lead single “Chicago Blues,” a mash-up of Count Basie’s “Goin’ to Chicago” with Sufjan Stevens’ “Chicago.”
Redman will be touring the project across the US and Europe following the album’s release. Visit the artist’s official website for further information on upcoming dates.
Redman notes that “the surface concept of where are we is rather simple: each of the songs on the album is about, or at least makes reference to, a specific geographical location (city or state or region) in the United States: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Streets of Philadelphia,’ Count Basie’s ‘Going To Chicago,’ Rodgers & Hart’s ‘Manhattan,’ John Coltrane’s ‘Alabama,’ ‘Baltimore’ etc…”
“So, on one level, this is an album ‘about’ America — at once a celebration and a critique. But it is also, to varying degrees, a ballads album, a standards album, an album of romantic longing, an album of social reflection, an album of melodic invention, an album of improvisational adventure, an album of mashups, perhaps even a tribute album of sorts.”
For added perspective, Redman invited four other friends to contribute to the portraits of their native cities: guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel (“Streets of Philadelphia”) and Peter Bernstein (“Manhattan”), trumpeter Nicholas Payton (“Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?”), and vibraphonist Joel Ross (“Chicago Blues”).
Conceived and planned during the pandemic lockdown, Redman says “it was a dream come true to finally have a chance to connect Aaron, Joe, and Brian — three of the most sublimely lyrical and deeply grooving musicians on the planet, who, somehow, had never before played together as a rhythm section. And it was a transformative experience to collaborate with Gabrielle — a vocalist of uncommon style, sincerity, and soul.”
