Dewey Redman

One of the foremost figures in avant-garde tenor saxophone, Dewey Redman never attained the widespread recognition accorded his son Joshua Redman during the 1990s, although Dewey himself proved far more experimental in his approach. He first took up the clarinet at age thirteen and performed in the same high-school marching band that featured Ornette Coleman, Charles Moffett, and Prince Lasha. Between 1956 and 1959 he taught in public schools, yet after earning a master’s degree in education from North Texas State he relocated to San Francisco, where he spent seven years working as a freelance musician and occasionally employed Pharoah Sanders as a sideman.

That period prepared the way for his celebrated tenure with the Ornette Coleman Quartet from 1967 to 1974, during which his tenor lines complemented Ornette’s alto with striking compatibility; Redman could match the leader’s freedom while his warm tone rendered the music somewhat more approachable. He also contributed to Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra and formed a vital component of Keith Jarrett’s acclaimed mid-seventies quintet. Additional appearances included a guest spot on Pat Metheny’s 80/81 album and participation, alongside Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell, in the Ornette Coleman reunion ensemble Old and New Dreams. Despite these numerous collaborations and a steady output of recordings, some issued under his own name, Dewey Redman has still not received full acknowledgment for his pioneering abilities.