Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Joshua Redman: Words Fall Short

Joshua Redman: Words Fall Short

By Doug Collette
July 6, 2025
View read count

After extended tenures on Warner Brothers and Nonesuch Records, saxophonist/composer/bandleader

Joshua Redman

saxophone
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Joshua Redman debuted on the Blue Note jazz label in 2023 with Where We Are. And while its successor, Words Fall Short, is right in line with that record by featuring vocals, it initiates a new phase in the leader's career by showcasing his new quartet in its recorded debut.

Formed as prelude to the world tour designed to support the previous effort, pianist

Paul Cornish

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Cornish, bassist

Philip Norris

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Philip Norris, and drummer

Nazir Ebo

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Nazir Ebo coalesced with Redman in such short order, he opted to take the group into the studio and capture as much of the newfound chemistry as possible.

Not surprisingly, the unity is palpable throughout these renditions of eight new Redman originals. And that includes, with no little irony, the final cut that is titled "Era's End," with vocalist

Gabrielle Cavassa

vocals
b.1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Gabrielle Cavassa reprising her appearance on the prior album to cement the continuity in Joshua Redman's body of work.

Her singing of the decidedly bittersweet lyrics, however, only hints at the burgeoning alterations in the career arc of Dewey Redman's son. The placement of that track as the conclusion to Words Fall Short supplies punctuation to the preceding statement(s) of purpose beginning with such thoughtful repose as "A Message To Unsend." Yet this opening number is not so much an invocation of the muse, but a group collection of thoughts. Cornish, Norris and Ebo circle around Redman exchanging ideas for elaboration and, in keeping with this LP's approximately forty-five-minute duration, the foursome does not belabor the brainstorming.

Instead, the ensemble welcomes saxophonist

Melissa Aldana

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Melissa Aldana into the mix. She spars briefly with Redman before taking part in the remainder of a conversation titled "So It Goes;" with all the participants having their respective say in setting the group's instrumental course(s), this selection is hardly so contemplative as the playing in the early going here.

As such, it is only natural that a meeting of minds would lead without much interruption into the spunky title song. Seemingly over just as it begins—though it runs near five minutes like most tracks here—it is another instance of savvy track sequencing, standing as a deft and deliberate setup for the thoughtful "Borrowed Eyes."

All of the core four have a chance to expand the dialogue here, and especially sublime is the back and forth between tenor sax and piano at the denouement. That interval leads as if by destiny to "Icarus," where trumpeter

Skylar Tang

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Skylar Tang offers some provocative comments and, in doing so, helps ratchet up the intensity of the interplay to its highest point yet.

The cold stop suggests that the rapport within the Redman quartet is infectious indeed (though it might've been tested with more extensive stretching out, at least once, to fully affirm the bond). But, tricky time stops and all, these are hardly the grandstanding gestures in which players of lesser instincts would indulge. Rather, the keening sound of soprano sax on "Over The Jelly-Green Sea" is just one expression of lightheartedness arising from the joy of fluent spontaneity.

Juxtaposed with the delicate vocal elocution on the finale, those interludes remind display a scrupulous attention to detail that permeates Joshua Redman's Words Fall Short.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

A Message To Unsend; So It Goes; Words Fall Short; Borrowed Eyes; Icarus; Over The Jelly-Green Sky; She Knows; Era��s End.

Personnel

Joshua Redman

saxophone

Melissa Aldana

saxophone

Skylar Tang

trumpet

Paul Cornish

piano

Philip Norris

bass

Gabrielle Cavassa

vocals

Nazir Ebo

drums

Album information

Title: Words Fall Short | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Why Is Japan a Jazz Paradise��or��...
< Previous

Simon Hanes: Aimer Colombophiler
Next >

Joshua Redman Concerts

Sep 25 Thu

Joshua Redman Quartet

Yoshi's Oakland
Oakland, CA

Sep 26 Fri

Joshua Redman Quartet

Yoshi's Oakland
Oakland, CA

Sep 26 Fri

Joshua Redman Quartet

Yoshi's Oakland
Oakland, CA

Sep 27 Sat

Joshua Redman

Irvine Barclay Theatre
Irvine, CA

Sep 28 Sun

Joshua Redman Quartet

New Orleans Jazz Market
New Orleans, LA

Sep 28 Sun

Joshua Redman Quartet

New Orleans Jazz Market
New Orleans, LA

Nov 7 Fri

Joshua Redman

Chicago Symphony Center
Chicago, IL

Nov 9 Sun

Joshua Redman Quartet

Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
Minneapolis, MN

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.