Free and Grounded: Dewey Redman's Adventurous Middle Path
Redman balances free explorations with structured grooves, never losing sight of the blues underneath.
The Ear of the Behearer captures Dewey Redman at a moment when he was comfortable moving between worlds. Recorded for Impulse! in 1973, these sessions find the saxophonist refusing easy categories. Some tracks push into genuine free territory — the kind of open-ended invention that requires all players listening hard to each other. Others settle into funkier, more grounded material: a struttin' blues, ensemble pieces built on repetition and swing. Ballads appear too, quieter spaces where Redman's tone becomes almost conversational. This isn't a musician trying to prove he belongs in the avant-garde or demonstrating mastery of the straight-ahead tradition. Instead, Redman seems genuinely uninterested in choosing. The album's title itself suggests this — an ear that can hear in multiple registers, that finds value in adventurousness and in blues feeling equally.
Scott Yanow's AllMusic review called it intriguing music, and that word fits better than flashier praise might. Redman had already worked with Ornette Coleman and others operating in freer spaces, but here he's not trying to replicate that energy across a whole record. The mix is deliberate: restless one moment, rooted the next. For listeners coming to Redman, this isn't the obvious entry point — you might start with his earlier Impulse! work or his later ECM records. But if you're already familiar with his range and want to hear him genuinely uncompromising about his own taste, this is where that shows up on record.
Who's playing
Sironedouble bass
Dewey Redmanalto saxophone
Ted Danieltrumpet
Danny Johnsonpercussion
Eddie Mooremembranophone
Where next?
More by Dewey Redman
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