Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 653 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 213 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 28 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2008, 2002 Blue Note / Capitol / EMI | 50999 5 14375 2 7 / 7243 5 40537 2 6
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

In an all too small discography, Freddie Redd's Shades of Redd is without a doubt his crowning achievement. Completed after a successful stint composing music for the stage play The Connection, Redd wrote music specifically geared for his two formidable front line saxophonists – emerging alto giant Jackie McLean and the unsung hero of the tenor, Tina Brooks. Redd, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Louis Hayes, fresh out of the Detroit scene, took New York City by storm playing clubs and working with Redd when he was not doing production music.

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) {2008 BN Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 381 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 122 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 12 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2008 Blue Note / EMI | 50999 5 14375 2 7 | 24-bit Remaster

All of these tracks, originals by Redd, are brimming with the hope, optimism, and fresh ideas of the early '60s, music perfectly rendered and representative of the time period. The darting, daring, tart sweet alto of McLean and the robust, lean, protein enriched tenor of Brooks fit beautifully together when they play in unison, and they do that a lot. The calm, lovely, then bursting into bop piece "The Thespian" sets the tone, followed by the swinging, head nodding "Blues-Blues-Blues," and the happy, hip, swing/shuffle "Melanie" brings the cream to the top. The teamwork displayed here rivals any seasoned veteran band of the era. Redd's piano playing, never spectacular or boisterous, is instead literate and street smart, and comes to the forefront in any tempo, whether the fleet hard bopper to Latin tinged near-show tune "Swift" and the spicy calypso to swing strutter "Ole," where Brooks steps up and takes a marvelous John Coltrane cum Hank Mobley solo. McLean's feature on "Just a Ballad for My Baby" illustrates his unique style, slightly but purposefully using microtones that might seem somewhat off-putting to the non-cognoscenti, but is remarkable upon closer inspection. Considering this is 1960, and Ornette Coleman was also making his way beyond conventional means, McLean is innovating just as much. Stretched out alternate takes of "Melanie" and "Ole" are included on this single CD, and are also available on Redd's 1988 Mosaic label reissue of his complete Blue Note efforts. Redd is still alive as of this writing, performing occasionally in his Los Angeles area home and in New York in 2007 for a revisited production of The Connection. Shades of Redd, his zenith as a jazz musician, would be a wonderful addition to any collection, and shows that the lesser known musicians have plenty of music to play, in addition to a unique perspective aside from the giants of this music.

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}

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Freddie Redd - Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note Connoisseur CD Series 2002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 272 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 90 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 15 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2002 Blue Note / Capitol | 7243 5 40537 2 6 | 24-bit remaster

Redd's Blues didn't make it to LP until 1988 and CD until 2002 and that's a tip-off. It's a generic Blue Note disc, journeyman in the sense of not offering any great revelation, no undiscovered "shoulda-been-a-standard" composition, nothing to supplant The Connection as the first Freddie Redd disc to look for or add any greater luster to his welterweight reputation. The sextet lineup reads better than it plays – it's perfectly adequate, but no one sounds inspired except for trumpeter Benny Bailey, who was back in the U.S. for a handful of recording dates. Jackie McLean's tart tone is immediately recognizable on the up-tempo opener "Now," with a solid groove from Paul Chambers and drummer Sir John Godfrey, the latter fond of Art Blakey bombs that aren't obtrusive. He's miked very high, so every stick click and cymbal sizzle is audible, which may account for why Tina Brooks' tenor never sounds more than just present in the room. Redd is a pretty fundamental player, with a bluesy feel lurking close beneath the surface that comes out on "Old Spice" and some nicely down-home soloing on the light, springy "Blues for Betsy" following Bailey's opening solo blast. But Chambers' arco solo discordantly derails the momentum and some nice horn harmonies on the head to "Love Lost" is about the only other thing worth noting. It's puzzling why the performances are so lukewarm because McLean and Brooks were well familiar with Redd's music, Chambers is Chambers, and Bailey is probably the most impressive player here apart from the leader. Great labels have their uninspired sessions, too, and Redd's Blues sounds like one of those off-days where the music just came out sounding generic and lifeless.

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}

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Freddie Redd - Shades Of Redd (1960) + Redd's Blues (1961) {Blue Note}

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