Dewey Redman - Unreleased 1969 Session

This is a cool find:

Dewey Redman
Unreleased Blue Note or Strata East / dolphy Series Session [no label, 1CD]
Record Plant, NYC, December 19, 1969

The thing about jazz, and about free-jazz especially, is that there is something timeless about it. Recorded 38 years ago, Apple-itis, the opening track on this CD, still has the ability to astound today as it probably did so many years ago. To recall a comment someone made on the internet, "Dewey Redman enters with a shattering roar, literally screaming while playing the saxophone. The earth opens up and you contemplate the multitudes of strange large brown insects that burrow and feed near the ancient runes." It is a tough work out with Redman making the saxophone bleed while ably supported by Chris Capers on trumpet.

While Look For The Black Star would eventually be released in 1975 with a different lineup, the two versions here carry a lyrical (samba-ish) swing and indicate what Redman could do to a composition along a more "traditional" jazz line. And because of Redman's musette (or the Chinese suona), certain passages carry an Asian feel.

Dewey Redman is best known for his work with Ornette Coleman, appearing on the recording New York Is Now, among others. He also played in Keith Jarrett's American Quartet, and was a member of the collective Old And New Dreams. (Younger jazz fans will probably know of Dewey as the father of saxophonist Joshua Redman.)

For Dewey Redman, it was the sound that mattered. In an interview, he said: "In my world, that's the first thing I reach for is the sound. Technique is OK, but if you got the technique and I got a good sound, I'll beat you every time. You can play a thousand notes and I can play one note and wipe you out. That's what I reach for is a sound." Redman was 75 when he died of liver failure in Brooklyn, New York on September 2, 2006.

[snip]

As far as we can ascertain, this recording has never been officially released.

Note: Due to the length of some of the files, please be patient when downloading the tracks.

Track 01 Apple-itis 12:32 (17.2MB)

Track 02 Interconnection (take 2) 10:06 (13.9MB)

Track 03 P.S. (take 1) 7:49 (10.7MB)

Track 04 Look for the Black Star (13:25) (18.4MB)

Track 05 Look for the Black Star (take 2) 13:25 (20.7MB)

Lineup:
Dewey Redman (as, musette)
Chris Capers (tp)
Bob Cunningham (b)
Ed Blackwell (dr)
Rashied Ali (dr)
Eddie Moore (dr)

Download it here.