Joshua Redman
★★★★
Words Fall Short
BLUE NOTE. CD/DL/LP

Now in his fourth decade as an artist, Redman defies complacency on Words Fall Short, a platform for the intuitive shadow-play of his new quartet with Paul Cornish, Philip Norris and Nazir Ebo. It’s when he cedes space to outside voices – fellow saxophonist Melissa Aldana (So It Goes), trumpeter Skylar Tang (Icarus), singer Gabrielle Cavassa (Era’s End) – that his softly-spoken, succinct storytelling really shines.