Dewey Redman Dies

By I Sep. 5, 2006

Saxophonist Dewey Redman died on Sept. 2 of liver failure in Brooklyn. He was 75.

Redman developed a musical career around the tenor saxophone and musette. En route to these instruments, Redman, born in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 17, 1931, began as a clarinetist at the age of 13, soon followed by alto saxophone. It was as a student at Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1953, that he changed to tenor. Following college, from 1956-‘60, Redman worked as a high school teacher and started working as a professional musician while attending North Texas State University, where he received a Masters degree in 1959. A move to San Francisco was a musical choice, resulting in an early collaboration with Donald Garrett.

Perhaps Redman’s most significant collaborations occurred during the years 1967-‘74, when he was a member of Ornette Coleman’s New York group. During this time he also played with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra (1969) as well as with Keith Jarrett’s band (1971-‘76). Redman also led his own bands in this period, with drummer Eddie Moore being one of his most used sidemen.

Redman’s signature style emerged as a result of these collaborative efforts, a style characterized by vocalizing through his horn. At this time, he also picked up the musette. Another major development came with he helped form Old and New Dreams, a band comprised of former Coleman bandmates. Don Cherry, Haden and Ed Blackwell worked together with Redman in this band. This group toured extensively and recorded together into the 1980s.

Redman’s own recordings included a collaboration with Cecil Taylor and Elvin Jones (Momentum Space, Verve, 1999) and a program of blues, free-jazz and bop, titled The Struggle Continues (ECM, 1982). His other albums included Redman And Blackwell In Willisau (duos with Blackwell, Black Saint, 1980), Ear Of The Behearer (Impulse!, 1973), Old And New Dreams (Black Saint, 1976), New York Is Now! (As a sideman with Coleman, Blue Note, 1968), Liberation Music Orchestra (as a sideman with Haden, Impulse!, 1969), El Juicio (as a sideman with Jarrett, Atlantic, 1971) and 80/81 (as a sideman with Pat Metheny, ECM, 1980).

Along with leading his own bands, Redman also performed alongside his son, tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, and was a mentor to drummer Matt Wilson. Dewey Redman’s last concert was on Aug. 27 at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in New York.