A reunion of saxophonist
Joshua Redman
's original acoustic quartet, 2020's ebullient
RoundAgain
showcases his long-running creative friendship with bandmates pianist
Brad Mehldau
, bassist
Christian McBride
, and drummer
Brian Blade
.
Redman
first documented the sound of this group on his acclaimed 1994 album
MoodSwing
. Even then, the quartet was a supergroup in the making, featuring four of the most highly touted players of their generation. While they have continued to work together in various incarnations throughout their careers,
is the first proper recording by the quartet in over two decades. As with
,
features all-original music with each player bringing along a composition. As each of the four musicians here have distinguished themselves as distinctive bandleaders in their own right, it's fascinating to hear their individual styles come to the fore throughout the album. They kick off with
's classical-leaning "Undertow," an introspective and noirish piece built around a descending circular piano pattern from
Mehldau
. Conversely,
's "Moe Honk" evokes the frenetic cartoon music of
Carl Stalling
as he and
chase each other like jealous hummingbirds over the song's spiraling melody. Equally compelling is
McBride
's "Floppy Diss," a soulful, off-kilter blues that allows for some wryly inventive improvisational stretching out. We also get
's funky, gospel-inflected "Silly Little Love Song," and
's harmonically nuanced "Father" with its wave-like 3/4 groove. The album ends evocatively with
Blade
's dusky, rubato ballad "Your Part to Play." Beginning with a sweetly attenuated bass line from
, the song builds slowly as
joins in, doubling the minor-key melody, before
and
push the group to the song's peak: a melange of brushes, cymbals, and woody hand percussion, crystalline piano flourishes, and
's breathy sax tones. In some ways,
feels like the perfect follow-up to
, an album that could have arrived in the late '90s. Yet, it is hard to imagine
and his quartet summoning the same warmth and relaxed intensity that they do here without the decades of experience and deep familiarity they've cultivated with each other over the years. ~ Matt Collar