Joshua Redman, ‘Facts’

Mack Avenue Records II, LLC. YouTube

Facts, it can often seem nowadays, aren't what they used to be. That probably wasn't part of the rationale when tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman applied that title to this tune, recorded during the sessions for his excellent 2018 album Still Dreaming. And yet the idea of several fragmentary points of view is born out in the way that Redman's angular melody entwines with a countermelody by Ron Miles on cornet, as bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade percolate the groove. The song, which fully captivates without an improvised solo, appears on the forthcoming Relief: A Benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians' Emergency Fund, alongside tracks by Charles Lloyd, Herbie Hancock and Cécile McLorin Salvant. In that sense, Redman's outtake fulfilled its noblest purpose — and if that isn't quite a fact, it should hold up as truth.

◈ Stream "Facts" by Joshua Redman

▶ Watch the Joshua Redman Quartet's RoundAgain release concert

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