"Blues on Sunday" opens Joshua Redman's 1993 self-titled debut album on Warner Bros., immediately establishing the twenty-three-year-old saxophonist as a major new voice in jazz. Redman's original composition is a twelve-bar blues in E-flat taken at a medium swing tempo, its earthy simplicity serving as a deliberate statement of intent from a musician who had just won the 1991 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. Redman leads with six choruses of tenor saxophone, his solo revealing a player of remarkable maturity, blending post-bop sophistication with a deep, soulful connection to the blues tradition. His tone is robust and focused, his phrasing conversational yet commanding. Christian McBride follows with three choruses of acoustic bass, his rich sound and rhythmic authority making a strong case for the instrument as a front-line solo voice. The rhythm section on this track, with Kevin Hayes at the piano and Gregory Hutchinson on drums, provides responsive, interactive support that never overwhelms the soloists. The album was a commercial and critical sensation, eventually reaching the top of Billboard's contemporary jazz chart, and this opening track set the tone for a recording that proved jazz could be both artistically ambitious and broadly appealing to a new generation of listeners.
