Joshua Redman Group

Joshua Redman is one of the most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists to have emerged in the 1990s. The early influences of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cannonball Adderley, and his father, Dewey Redman, as well as the Beatles; Aretha Franklin; the Temptations; Earth, Wind and Fire; Prince; the Police; and Led Zeppelin drew Redman more deeply into music. Although he loved playing the saxophone, academics were always his first priority, and he never seriously considered becoming a professional musician. After graduating from Harvard College with a BA in social studies, he had already been accepted by Yale Law School, but deferred entrance for what he believed was only going to be one year to join friends in Brooklyn. Redman almost immediately found himself immersed in the New York jazz scene. In November 1991, five months after moving to New York, Redman was named the winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition.