RoundAgain

Surprising everyone, saxophonist Joshua Redman reunited the band from his 1994 album MoodSwing — pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade — in 2020. Of course, back then they were up-and-comers, and now they’re all among the best-known and most highly regarded players of their generation, so they’re billed collectively on this disc. Redman wrote three of the seven tracks, Mehldau two, McBride and Blade one each. The music is jumpy and twitchy, avoiding the relatively simple blues grooves and other exercises (a samba, a soprano sax piece) heard on MoodSwing. These musicians are now seasoned veterans who’ve worked in many contexts, and they’re capable of challenging each other on the fly, particularly Blade, whose long tenure in the without-a-net Wayne Shorter quartet serves him well here. There are still big hooks present (“Silly Little Love Song” and “Right Back Round Again” have serious earworm potential), but everyone here has become a master since their last meeting, and their sheer joy at playing together is audible from first note to last.