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Dewey Redman

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Dewey Redman was an American saxophonist who played free jazz, as a bandleader and in groups led by Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. He was born in 1931 in Fort Worth, Texas, and at high school already played in the school band with Ornette Coleman, Prince Lasha and Charles Moffett. He was a cousin of the swing bandleader Don Redman. After a brief study of electrical engineering and his military service, he studied education and taught children, while playing saxophone in the evenings and at weekends. In 1959 he moved to San Francisco.

Music and breakthrough

Redman played mainly tenor saxophone, sometimes also alto saxophone, clarinet and the Chinese suona, which he called a musette. His best-known period was his collaboration with Ornette Coleman from 1968 to 1972. After that he played from 1971 to 1976 in Keith Jarrett's American Quartet. Under his own name he recorded Tarik in 1970, The Ear of the Behearer in 1973 and Coincide in 1975, among others. He was also a member of Old and New Dreams, a group built around musicians from Ornette Coleman's circle. In 2001 the documentary Dewey Time was made about him. He died in 2006 in Brooklyn. His son is the saxophonist Joshua Redman.

Influence

Redman belongs to the saxophonists who carried on the free jazz of Ornette Coleman and who found a voice of their own in Keith Jarrett's group.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a track from Tarik or The Ear of the Behearer. Notice his tenor saxophone: what kind of tone does it have?

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Artists