Jazz Connection Music

One of jazz records collectors holy grails is Redd's complete Blue Note Mosaic set (alongside Tina Brooks "True Blue") and the music from the Connection is the main reason. I have the Mosaic wonderful set to hear and enjoy but I'm sick and tired (like many others, I guess) of searching those rare records that should have been on a regular cd/record circulation basis and not just cd in connoisseur series or some other limited edition. Redd deserves it. You cannot hold your music and artists as hostages. Redd is treated like Brooks in the past. Brooks Blue Note output did not see the light of day for years (except True Blue which, as you know, is out of print today).
The music, of course, is incredible and perhaps you should try out the new DVD (cheaper and more approachable than the audio-cd) to understand how beautiful Redd compositions and arrangements are. This recording and Shades of Redd are his two diamonds in a too little stack of recordings.

"The Connection" was a successful underground play that opened at New York's Living Theatre in July 1959 about heroin addiction and the lifestyles surrounding it. Being true to life, jazz played a large role in the storyline. It is a tribute to playwright Jack Gelber that he used real jazz musicians as actors, and as a result he got some great original music as a bonus.

Freddie (not Freddy) Redd wrote and played the music in the play, which was recorded here for Blue Note. (There is another album out there that has floated in and out of print on CD of a quintet recording of this music that featured Howard McGhee and Tina Brooks.) This disc features seven Redd originals and a band of Jackie McLean (who also had a long run as an actor in the play), Michael Mattos on bass and Larry Ritchie on drums. This the only recording I have featuring the bassist and drummer, and they both play admirably. This CD was available domestically as part of the initial Connoisseur series but that edition is now out of print. Blue Note fans won't be dissapointed however for dropping a pretty penny for the import version. This is timeless music.

One of jazz records collectors holy grails is Redd's complete Blue Note Mosaic set (alongside Tina Brooks "True Blue") and the music from the Connection is the main reason. I have the Mosaic wonderful set to hear and enjoy but I'm sick and tired (like many others, I guess) of searching those rare records that should have been on a regular cd/record circulation basis and not just cd in connoisseur series or some other limited edition. Redd deserves it. You cannot hold your music and artists as hostages. Redd is treated like Brooks in the past. Brooks Blue Note output did not see the light of day for years (except True Blue which, as you know, is out of print today).
The music, of course, is incredible and perhaps you should try out the new DVD (cheaper and more approachable than the audio-cd) to understand how beautiful Redd compositions and arrangements are. This recording and Shades of Redd are his two diamonds in a too little stack of recordings.

"The Connection" was a successful underground play that opened at New York's Living Theatre in July 1959 about heroin addiction and the lifestyles surrounding it. Being true to life, jazz played a large role in the storyline. It is a tribute to playwright Jack Gelber that he used real jazz musicians as actors, and as a result he got some great original music as a bonus.

Freddie (not Freddy) Redd wrote and played the music in the play, which was recorded here for Blue Note. (There is another album out there that has floated in and out of print on CD of a quintet recording of this music that featured Howard McGhee and Tina Brooks.) This disc features seven Redd originals and a band of Jackie McLean (who also had a long run as an actor in the play), Michael Mattos on bass and Larry Ritchie on drums. This the only recording I have featuring the bassist and drummer, and they both play admirably. This CD was available domestically as part of the initial Connoisseur series but that edition is now out of print. Blue Note fans won't be dissapointed however for dropping a pretty penny for the import version. This is timeless music.

Very good with a blanc de blanc reserve champagne ( i am winemaker). this is one of my my favorite cd to relax with friends when I bbq on vine wood, very nice music.
Charles Noel Gendrot, Virginia

Originally available on CD in the mid-90s as a limited edition title in the first round of Blue Note's Connoisseur Series, Freddie Redd's "Music from The Connection" has only been available as an expensive import or collector's item for the past decade. Thankfully with this reissue in the RVG Edition Series, "The Connection" is no longer disconnected. "The Connection" was a successful underground play that opened at New York's Living Theatre in July 1959 about heroin addiction and the lifestyles surrounding it. Being true to life, jazz played a large role in the storyline. It is a tribute to playwright Jack Gelber that he used real jazz musicians as actors, and as a result he got some great original music as a bonus. Pianist Freddie Redd wrote and played the music in the play, which was recorded here for Blue Note. (There is another album out there that has floated in and out of print on CD of a quintet recording of this music that featured Howard McGhee and Tina Brooks.) This disc features seven Redd originals and a band of Jackie McLean on alto sax (who also had a long run as an actor in the play), Michael Mattos on bass and Larry Ritchie on drums. This is the only recording I have featuring the bassist and drummer, and they both play admirably. Jazz fans, do yourself a favor and get "Connected."

I knew little about Freddie Redd until I read a review of this album in the All Music Guide to Jazz. It sounded great, so I went ahead and ordered it. All the accolades are justified, this is a great CD. Redd is an unjustly neglected jazz pianist, and his interplay with tenor great Jackie McLean is just superb. I plan to investigate the rest of Redd's (too few) albums as well.