The jazz world was already buzzing about the 24-year-old Joshua Redman when he released his self-titled debut album in 1993. Two years earlier, he had won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, and in 1992, he picked up "Best New Artist" honors in the annual JazzTimes Readers Poll.
The buzz grew into a roar when Joshua's debut recording hit the streets: the explosive young saxophonist captivated fans and critics alike with this set of originals and new takes on standards like "Body & Soul," Thelonious Monk's "Trinkle Tinkle," and Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts." In the wake of this fledgling effort and its brilliant follow-up, Wish, Joshua took the "Hot Jazz Artist of 1993" honors in Rolling Stone and was voted "#1 Tenor Saxophonist (Talent Deserving Wider Recognition)" in the 1993 Downbeat Critics Poll.
Showing a keen understanding of the currents moving the jazz world - along with the wisdom not to be carried away by them - Joshua writes these liner notes for his first album:
They say there is a war raging in the world of jazz. On one side of the battlefield stand the forces of Tradition, guardians of the past. Dedicated to the preservation of a majestic jazz legacy, the forces of Tradition demand a thorough mastery of, and utter reverence for, that which has gone before�. On the other side of the battlefield stand the forces of innovation, warriors for the future. Devoted to an aggressive advancement of the jazz aesthetic, the forces of innovation accept only that which is novel and unfamiliar�. Regardless of what They say, I hope that when you listen to this recording, you do not attempt to place it in a camp to which it does not belong, in the midst of a battlefield which should not exist�. Rather, I hope that when you listen to this recording - and for that matter, when you listen to all jazz, all music - you do just that: Listen�. I hope that when you are listening, you can feel the spirit of the moment that we felt while this recording was being made�. I hope that to you this music will seem evocative, infectious, timeless, and uplifting. I hope it swings for you. And I hope you enjoy.
- Joshua Redman, December 1992