Jazz Articles about Rob Reddy

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Rob Reddy's Small Town: The Book of the Storm

by Troy Collins
September 14, 2007

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Rob Reddy premiers his most ambitious work to date with The Book of the Storm, a jazz symphony in four movements. The premiere of his large ensemble, the aptly titled Small Town, is not only his first official live recording, but his debut as a conductor. Similar to contemporary classical composers, Reddy's writing method has long embraced improvisation as an additional element to his intricate pre-written compositions. Rather than using charts and notation as the ...

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Rob Reddy's Gift Horse: A Hundred Jumping Devils

by Elliott Simon
March 10, 2007

That rarefied air where the compositional arts--writing, music and painting--come together is the holy grail for which this release from soprano/alto saxophonist Rob Reddy's Gift Horse is searching. Using 15th Century cover art and inspiration from beat poet godfather William Carlos Williams, Gift Horse bemoans A Hundred Jumping Devils that get in the way of this ultimate quest, sometimes delightfully and other times unpleasantly. While all this may sound a bit pretentious, it isn't, and Reddy has ...

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Rob Reddy: The Fine Line Between Composition and Comfort

by Paul Olson
February 26, 2007

Rob Reddy's one of the prominent soprano saxophonists working today, but his reputation has been built upon his work as bandleader and, especially, as a composer. He's been a presence in New York for 20 years now, having studied with soprano player Dave Liebman and reedsman Makanda Ken McIntyre before graduating from the first-ever jazz program at Greenwich Village's New School.Reddy played as a sideman with bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson (Jackson encouraging him to ...

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An AAJ Interview with Rob Reddy

by AAJ Staff
February 26, 2007

This interview was first published in December 1999.

Imagine for a moment that you are a graduate student of American history. The twist to this premise is that you are alive 10,000 years from now. As part of your research you are investigating life in 20th century America. Your goal is to attempt an explanation of life in America through examination of 20th century American music. Assume also that wonderful resources such as All About Jazz have moved ...

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Rob Reddy's Gift Horse: A Hundred Jumping Devils

by Karl A.D. Evangelista
November 25, 2006

Rob Reddy's music conveys motion--a rare thing in an era when jazz often seems like the stuff of historians, when even the most astute artist might fail to create anything genuinely new. Doubtless, though, Reddy is a capable creative voice, and A Hundred Jumping Devils is far more than mere repertory work or pastiche.

Following the William Carlos Williams quote from which the album takes its title, Devils longs to be free from the torment of its materials, and in ...

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Rob Reddy's Gift Horse: A Hundred Jumping Devils

by Jerry D'Souza
November 18, 2006

Rob Reddy has always been an adventurer in the best sense of the word. He goes out once again here with his Gift Horse group, raking in a different kind of music--not only with the far from usual instrumentation of the band, but also a greater reliance on composition than in the past. Many of the tunes have a hymnal essence, which Reddy converts into glorious music through his arrangements. Adding to the positive, there is a samba and a ...

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Rob Reddy's Gift Horse: A Hundred Jumping Devils

by Troy Collins
October 22, 2006

A Hundred Jumping Devils is saxophonist Rob Reddy's fifth studio album, after a five-year recording hiatus. His new ensemble, Gift Horse, reconvenes some of his regular sidemen, including legendary violinist Charles Burnham and longstanding bassist Dom Richards, both featured on his previous release, Seeing By The Light Of My Own Candle (Knitting Factory, 2001). Percussionist Mino Cinelu, French horn player Mark Taylor and guitarist Brandon Ross join this new lineup, whose distinctive combination of strings and horns is a recurrent ...