Joshua Redman

Harvard graduate Joshua Redman (born on February 1st, 1969) was on course for a career in law and had been accepted into Yale before he decided to take a gap year. Redman moved east to a house in Brooklyn with some friends and started to indulge in his passion for jazz, playing saxophone in local clubs in bars. He won the prestigious Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition in 1991 and a career in law fell by the wayside. Signing a deal with Warner Bros, he released his first album in 1993, simply titled Joshua Redman. The album earned him a Grammy nomination and was quickly followed up in the same year by Wish. In parallel with his career leading his own quartet, Redman continued to appear as a sideman for numerous artists. Over the years his stature as a player continued to grow and this led to Redman's distinctive soulful style being in demand by top artists such as Dave Brubeck, The Rolling Stones, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and B.B. King. In 2016, he received a Grammy nomination for the album Nearness, which featured live material recorded on an earlier European tour showcasing a series of duets with pianist Brad Mehldau. Inspired by his father’s band, Old and New Dreams, Redman released Still Dreaming in 2018 to great critical acclaim, masterfully blending jazz with folk, gospel, and blues. The turn of the decade found the accomplished saxophonist reuniting with his original quartet for 2020’s RoundAgain, featuring Brad Mehldau on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Brian Blade on drums.