About
Joshua Redman opens with a commanding seven-chorus tenor saxophone solo on Ornette Coleman's "Turnaround," a medium-tempo swing blues in C from his 1993 album Wish. Over the 12-bar form at approximately 149 BPM, Redman builds intensity through blues-inflected lines and rhythmic variety, his extended statement setting the improvisational standard for the performance. As the first of three soloists ahead of Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden, his seven choruses establish the relaxed yet purposeful energy that characterizes this track. The deceptively simple blues framework gives Redman ample room to stretch, and he exploits the space with an improvisation that balances bebop vocabulary with a more modern, rhythmically adventurous approach. The quartet's interplay is striking for a group that was not a regular working band.
Joshua Redman was 23 to 24 years old at the time.
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