Joshua Redman Trio live in Memmingen 2011

Joshua Redman, Tenor and Soprano Saxophones

Reuben Rogers, Bass

Gregory Hutchinson, Drums

recorded live at Kaminwerk, Memmingen, February 15, 2011

1. Blackbird / Bye bye blackbird (John Lennon/Paul McCartney/Ray Henderson)

2. Allegretto, 2. Satz, Sinfonie Nr. 7 (Ludwig van Beethoven)

3. Zarafah (Joshua Redman)

4. God put a smile upon your face (Guy Berryman/Jon Buckland/Will Champion/Chris Martin)

5. Trinkle Tinkle (Thelonious Monk)

On Compass, Joshua Redman takes the concept of “playing trio” in surprising new directions. The title of his third Nonesuch disc evokes navigation, travel, a desire to find one’s bearings. Redman confirms, “This album was a journey for me, a further exploration of the trio format. Musically, it’s an expansion on, and extension of, Back East,” his acclaimed 2007 set and his first studio recording with an acoustic trio.

The saxophonist recorded Compass during three days in March ‘08 at Avatar Studio in New York City, and it was a bracing leap into the unknown for him. As Redman admits, with a laugh, “Sometimes I’m guilty, with my recordings, of having too clear a plan. This time I said, ‘Hey, I just have to let go.’ If I try to plan it, it’s not going to work, so I’ll just think about some tunes that we could do with everybody together, we’ll get in the studio and see how it goes. There was a real kind of release for me with this project, an embrace of the unfamiliar.”