: Freddie Redd: Music from The Connection – 1960

What sweet music from what sounds like a perfectly harrowing stage play!

Freddie Redd is one of those long-forgotten names in Blue Note history. He was a pianist in the bebop tradition of Bud Powell, with a tinge of Thelonious Monk. He recorded exactly two albums as a Blue Note leader, a few more as a session man, then disappeared for a number of years.

And yet, based on the evidence of Music from The Connection, Redd was a pretty swinging cat.

Blue Note, of course, never trafficked in soundtracks from movies or Broadway, and this isn't exactly a soundtrack. The Connection was a play about jazz musicians and junkies. In the end, the main character dies of a drug overdose. Not exactly The Sound of Music. More like West Side Story meets Charlie Parker.

The music is not so much songs—there are no vocals—as quartet music played by the actors/musicians themselves as part of the show. For such a serious play, the music is actually quite melodic and playful. Much of it is standard hard bop, but the tone is mostly light and even upbeat.

Jackie McLean on alto sax runs away with most of the best lines. His playing is surprisingly light and breezy. Stage directions from the original play tell the musicians to play "in the tradition of Charlie Parker." Many McLean phrases do indeed sound like Bird, but even more do not.

Redd has his own moments. He is clearly gifted as both a composer and player. Sometimes jaunty, sometimes lightning fast, Redd's piano is always swinging. The surprise, at least for me, is drummer Larry Richie, a virtual unknown who channels Art Blakey in many places. I'd like to hear more—but apparently he didn't record much. Bassist Michael Mattos solidly drives the bottom.

All in all, Music from The Connection is a delightful record. And that's not something you can say of most shows that deal with inner-city drug addiction.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Not hard to find

Cost: $7 as MP3's, $9 for a used CD, $12 for a new CD