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Freddie Redd
  • Male
  • Hollywood, CA
  • United States
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I'M ALIVE & WELL & READY TO PLAY

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What is your profession?
Musician, Songwriter, Composer, Actor
What Instrument Do you Play?
piano, composer
Where Are you located?
Hollywood, CA
How did you find out about TGJN?
Dr. Nelson Harrison
About Me:


A classic bop pianist and a composer of haunting melodies, Freddie Redd has had an episodic career, with high points followed by periods in which he maintained a low

profile. After a period in the Army (1946-49), Redd worked with drummer Johnny Mills and then in New York played with Tiny Grimes (with whom he recorded), Cootie Williams, Oscar Pettiford and the Jive Bombers. Redd, who appeared with both jazz and early R&B groups, recorded his debut as a leader for Prestige in 1955 (reissued in the OJC series), appeared on dates led by Gene Ammons and Art Farmer, and toured Sweden in 1956 with Ernestine Anderson and Rolf Ericson, cutting an obscure trio set in Sweden for the Metronome label. When he returned to the U.S., Redd settled for a time in San Francisco, where he worked as the house pianist at Bop City and recorded for Riverside. He found his greatest fame when he wrote the music for the play The Connection. He acted and played in the landmark show in New York, London and Paris, was in the film, and recorded the music for Blue Note, the first of his three sessions for the label (all of which were reissued on a Mosaic limited-edition box set as two-CD sets). Unfortunately, there were no encore writing assignments, and Redd soon moved to Europe, where he performed regularly but became quite obscure in the U.S. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles, but despite worthy sessions for Interplay (1977), Uptown (1985), Triloka (1988) and Milestone (1990), Freddie Redd remains an underrated great, still playing in his prime without gaining much recognition. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Note: I have not been low profile by my own choice. I am alive, healthy and available to play festivals, clubs, clinics, recordings, etc. I have many new compositions that have not been heard.

Freddie Redd that is- consummate improvising keyboardist/composer whose original score on Blue Note for Jack Gelber's searing play “The Connection” reverberates eternally down the marble halls of the charm(ed) school of indelible jazz, thanks to Freddie's bewitching melodicism, nimble pianistic pyrotechnique, and the keening cry of Jacke McLean on alto (there's also a recording of Freddie's score on Felsted acquired on a Japanese cd reissue some years ago, with trumpeter Howard McGhee an extra added ingredient in the original mix, his quintet actually listed as the featured artist, Freddie ghosting his own parts under the moniker “I Ching”)

Outside of Herbie Nichols, Freddie Redd is one of the greatest unsung ivory-huntin' heroes of jazz and a very nice man for sure.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=18477
==========================================
At Merkin Concert Hall's Re-issue “Classic Recordings Live" series. Monday February 19, 2007 at 8.00pm, they presented “Re-connected". The Freddie Redd Quartet, with Lou Donaldson at Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, New York, N.Y. 10023.

REVIEW:

A Jazz “comeback" story; forgotten 'Be-bop' pianist and stage actor Freddie Redd re-emerged from obscurity to perform the music he wrote for the 1960 Obie award-winning play “The Connection". Alto Saxophonist Lou Donaldson filled in for the late Jackie McLean, along with Bassist Mickey Bass and Drummer Louis Hayes. Alto Saxophonist Donald Harrison joined them for the second part of the program.

Freddie is given a hero's welcome, tumultuous ovation by the nearly sold-out, ecstatically cheering crowd where he plays to a joyous whooping throng which included many luminaries. Freddie was in tremendous form with his fluid technique and improvisational genius on full display, fully undimmed over the years, and in the excellent company of hard bop saxmen Lou Donaldson or smoking Donald Harrison.

One cliff-hanging moment occurred at a New York, when stalwart veteran bassist Mickey Bass's hand seized up at the top of the second set with Redd. Without a moment's hesitation young Dwayne Burno came up out of the audience, jumped onstage, stepped up to the plate, picked up Mickey's acoustic bass while they guided the ailing older jazzman gingerly offstage...and without missing more than about 4 bars without bass proceeded to kick it up a notch, or 2, or 3--BAM!!--(as in, Bassist A Mofo...or au Go Go...life's a flow-flow)--to the bass manner born, in other words (in point of fact Dwayne as it turns out is Donald Harrison's regular bassist and had actually played most of these Redd compositions before...so it wasn't QUITE the miracle it looked to be to the crowd...still, it was pretty damn awe-inspiring, as young Dwayne literally saved the day for the night. As with so many overlooked artists, you couldn't exactly call this a comeback gig for Freddie Redd (although it was billed along those lines)--as his musical gifts had never deserted him.

===========================================
Born in New York City, May 29, 1928, Freddie Redd has seen and made a lot of music. Although his recordings are sparse, his talent is immense, both as a composer and performer. While he was exposed to music early it wasn't until he was in the military, in 1946, that it was clear what he was going to do with his life. In his own words:

“...it just blew my mind! it was Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie playing SHAW' NUFF. Now I'd learned a little boogie woogie to fool around with “ but when I heard that I thought 'This is something that I got to do.'” From that point on Freddie didn't waste anytime. After the military he went to New York City and got a firsthand account of the new jazz scene.

But a more significant outcome from New York, was the opportunity to record 3 albums on the Blue Note label, Music from The Connection, Shades of Redd, and a long unreleased third session. In addition it was during this time that Freddie played with many of the finest artists of the day including Art Blakey, Coleman Hawkins, Tina Brooks, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Lou Donaldson, and many others. It was Mingus who brought him to the west coast, which is where he wrote the San Francisco Suite recorded on Riverside.

His most recent work is Freddie Redd and his International Jazz Connection featuring original music composed by the pianist and featured in the world's first Jazz Video Album in his own words. Released in 1998 the album is dedicated to Representative John Conyers, the democrat from Michigan who authored House Resolution 57 designating jazz as America's national treasure.

While there are not many recordings of Freddie Redd and he may be hard to catch up with, he keeps busy performing and composing. And thanks to a Mosaic release of all the Blue Note recordings in 1989, a resurgence of interest in his work has occurred. Of course if you ask Freddie, he'll tell you he's been here, making music, all the time.
Website:
http://connection.june08pa.peopleaggregator.net

FREDDIE REDD QUARTET WOWS PARIS AT DUC DES LOMBARDS JAZZ CLUB - July 22-23, 2008

YOU'VE CHANGED
Freddie Redd - piano, Jessie Davis - alto sax, Doug Sides - drums, Jerome Johnson - bass

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Freddie Redd

MY FRIEND PANNONICA

This recent article in the New York Times brought back many memories of my friend Nica. We hung out at her place and I went out with her and Monk in her Rolls to Broadway shows, etc. Hello to Janka if you see this post.

Freddie
================================
THE NEW YORK TIMES

Music

The Baroness of Jazz
Pannonica De Koenigswarter

Article Tools Sponsored By
By BARRY SINGER
Published: October 17, 2008

IF the mysterious Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter is at all remembered t… Continue

Posted on October 19, 2008 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

Freddie Redd

NEW YORK TIMES LISTING - 2007

Jazz Listings

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published: February 16, 2007

RECONNECTED: THE FREDDIE REDD QUARTET (Monday) In the late 1950s, the pianist Freddie Redd wrote music for “The Connection,” a landmark Off Broadway play in which he also appeared onstage. Released on Blue Note, the subsequent album became a hard-bop classic, though that didn’t prevent Mr. Redd from slipping into obscurity. He resurfaces here with the bassist Mickey Bass and the drummer Louis Hayes; Donald Harrison inherits the… Continue

Posted on June 5, 2008 at 7:38pm —

Freddie Redd

VARIETY REVIEW - 2007

Recently Reviewed
Freddie Redd Quartet
(Merkin Concert Hall; 445 seats; $35 top)
By DAVID SPRAGUE
Presented by Kaufman Center. Musicians: Freddie Redd, Lou Donaldson, Donald Harrison, Mickey Bass, Louis Hayes. Reviewed Feb. 19, 2007.

Pianist Freddie Redd was one of the more mercurial characters on the Big Apple jazz scene of the late '50s and early '60s, darting around the edges of both the hard bop scene and the avant-garde theatrical realm -- and forging a powerful bond between the two by sco… Continue

Posted on June 5, 2008 at 7:36pm —

Freddie Redd

THE NEW YORK POST - 2007

RADIO: TODAY, FRIDAY (2/16), WKCR’S OUT TO LUNCH features “THE CONNECTION” (Noon – 3pm)

WKCR’s Ben Young hosts a review of music created in connection with Redd’s classic soundtrack to Jack Gelber's milestone 1959 off-broadway play;

Including the classic Blue Note recording in full, plus related versions from Redd and contemporaries

(89.9FM =or= http://www.wkcr.org)



RADIO: MONDAY, (2/19), WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show (12:30pm-1pm)

*INTERVIEW WITH FREDDIE REDD**

(93.9FM / AM 820 =or= http:/… Continue

Posted on June 5, 2008 at 7:33pm —

Freddie Redd

NEW YORK SUN ARTICLE - 2007

Redd Relives His Finest Hour
Jazz

By WILL FRIEDWALD
February 16, 2007
The surprise off-Broadway hit of the 1959–60 session was a drama with music in which both halves of the equation — the play, the music, and the way they complemented each other — were completely unlike any other production before or since. This was "The Connection," a wildly successful, avantgarde theater piece that eventually led to an equally far-out experimental film, two all-time classic jazz albums, and, this Monday, a c… Continue

Posted on June 5, 2008 at 7:28pm —

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At 3:31am on December 2, 2009, favour said…
favour.davids@yahoo.com
Compliment of the day,how is your health including work and business over there, guess fine.
My name is favour, in search of a man who understands love as trust and faith rather seeing it as a way of fun but a mature man with good sense of humor after reading your profile at (www.theglobaljazznetwork.ning.com) ,in fact,i derive interest on you so contact me directly with this email address and here is it(favour.davids@yahoo.com) i believe we can start from here, awaiting to hear from you to enable me send my pictures to you for further introduction.
kisses with love and cherish you.
At 6:19am on August 21, 2008, RON APREA said…
Hi Freddie,

When you have a minute, maybe take a peek at our new video clip. Nice footage of Hamp and Frank Foster.

Best,

Ron
At 1:34pm on July 19, 2008, Jazz Writer Aberjhani said…
Freddie--

Wishing you a profoundly blessed and ecstatically Happy Birthday. May the glory of your years bless you with ever increasing joy and prosperity.

Aberjhani
At 9:55am on July 6, 2008, John Gilbert said…
I have had the pleasure of knowing Freddie for a number of years. He is a wonderful pianist in the TRUE tradition of jazz. His artistry is phenomenal and his friendship is treasured. Hey, Freddie talk to me my man!
At 11:08pm on June 30, 2008, roznixonoutandabout.com said…
Hey Global Jazz Family,
I hope all is well and you're having a wonderful summer. When you have a moment please check out my new site, it''s a follow up site to my weekly news paper column "Out & About". Please let me know what you think or if you have any ideas for improvement.

Below please find site address

roznixonoutandabout.com

Thanks

Much love
Roz
At 1:20pm on June 26, 2008, ABSHALOM BEN SHLOMO said…
we're @www.myspace.com/abshalombenshlomo , also you tube
At 1:19pm on June 26, 2008, ABSHALOM BEN SHLOMO said…
BLESSINGS FROM JERUSALEM...! N DEED N GREAT HONOR 2 B CONSIDERED '' FRIEND'', THANKS..! NOW , HOW CAN WE BETTER SERVE U FROM HERE? PLS ADVISE N CONTINUE 2 B BLESSED N ALL U B.!GREAT MUSIC 2
At 5:31am on June 26, 2008, Scarlet Balanga said…
hi freddie, thanx for your kind request!
as a musician, we would really appreciate your opinion about our music, you can have a preview on our page here or on our myspace page...

have great times, best regards from Italy!!!
At 12:27pm on June 22, 2008, Jaki Teamor Mathews said…
I'm listening and enjoying your music on the Global Jazz Network. Is it possible to get a recording to play on the Jazz Workshop and Jazz Kaleidoscope at www.hdms.net? Please email me at jazzworkshop@hdms.net. Thank you, Jaki
At 6:57pm on June 17, 2008, Luther Thomas said…
BigGlobalJazzShoutOutFromMeAndMyKrewInCopenhagen..
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeHitMeBlackJack!
iight?
Photobucket
Luther'iDawgLTDGJ'Thomas aka
FUNKYDONKEY/SAXMACHINE/SAXCROBATICFANATIC
http://www.lutherthomas.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/saxcrobaticfanatic
http://www.ayler.com
http://www.veoh.com/users/saxmachine06
"">http://www.myspace.com/lutherthomas
http://theglobaljazznetwork.ning.com/profile­/LutherThomas
luther@lutherthomas.com
 
 

MEMBER NOTES


Dear Tamm E:

Just a note to tell you that it is nice to read about you!!!

You share so much great info about others and about the music, but nice to know that you are WAILIN' yourself and getting appreciation!!

Global Jazz Network is a really important way for all of us to keep hooked up and informed and to SLOWLY BUT SURELY SPREAD THE MESSAGE AND THE PHILOSOPHY of what Jazz is in its many different forms and what the styles are/is all about.

Just played for Paquito's honoring and received gold medal

John Faddis, save Brubeck, James moody and a bunch of KILLER YOUNG players and we all played and spoke about Paquito and jazz and all fine music

and Roberta Gamborini, who was excellent.

wish you had been there!

Through you, Donald Harrison hooked me up with Pittsburgh Jazz info and I feel like i am living there just reading about all the great happenings.

As Fall is here, I am back to my normal insane schedule, but wanted to write you back BEFORE The STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS goes into effect. I am my own secretary, so I am dedicated but SLOW!

And I can't fire myself as my own secretary or I might get hit with an Age Discrimination Lawsuit (in case I decided to sue myself for clerical incompetence).

As of this moment, a new documentary film is being made about me, to be released a few months after my 80th birthday, which is coming up next year Nov. 17, 2010. (12 months from now).

The film will end with the videoing of the big 80th birthday bash at Symphony Space in NYC and then have snippets of films from the past, with all kinds of fun stuff from the 50's thru today.
It will be called "David Amram: The First 80 Years"

Fortunately, I don't have to edit the hundreds of hours of footage or do new music the score, since the film maker, Larry Kraman is also the founder of Newport Classics recordings and knows all my symphonic as well as operatic, theater, film and jazz and world music work, so I am in good hands!!

The same people at Newport Classics Recordings are also making a Spoken Word series for I-Tunes, with me reading from my three books Vibrations, Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac and Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat.

And they are also recording some of my chamber music compositions and a new jazz record,
Next Spring my opera "12th Night", with libretto by Joe Papp (all words of Shakespeare), is having its eighth production and being FILMED!! Even most dead composers aren't that lucky!!!

This last five weeks I have appeared all over the country at concerts of my music, conducting and playing, doing spoken word with music, jazz, folk and world music festivals, film festivals and readings from my books.

Just the first week of October, I played Lowell Celebrates Kerouac festival in Lowell Mass, then the at midnight , following my last concert there , drove all night to Lagaurda Airport to catch the early Sunday mornng flight for the annual Farm Aid Concert in St Louis, where i played with Willie Nelson's band. The next morning (Monday the 5th , I flew bck to NYC in tme for my monthly concert at Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village.

The next night (Tuesday the 6th) the memorial at Symphony Space for Frank Mccourt, and the next day Wednesday the 7th) the celebration of the new authorized biography of Thelonious Monk with members of his family and musicians I have known since I first arrived in NYC in 1955!!

The 11th i flew off to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates,( i got at least get a few hours sleep) and tried to catch up on over 200 e-mails during the 13 hour flight, before arriving there and performing a concert of global music in conjunction with the score I composed for Teri McLuhan's new documentary feature film The Frontier Ghandi.

Then back in the USA in time to do programs centered around a performance of my Saxophone concerto Ode to Lord Buckley, in Loudoun Virginia ..

Then I went off to Toronto Nov 1st for a concert and appearance at the Diaspora Film Festival .

Now i am back at home hiding out composing and writing!

I am starting my fourth book "David Amram: The First 80 Years", (the same name as the new doc film being made about me), which will be finished at the end of next year and will end, like the film, with the monstro birthday bash concert for my Big 80... 12 months from now....(Nov 17 2010) in New York.

And every day, still finding time to continue composing a new orchestral work, having been doing it while on the run, and now every minute when I can hide out at the Farm in between travels.

And performing whenever possible with my three kids, each of whom have their own bands.

So as the BIG 80 approaches twelve months from now, (2010) while I may be still shy, I am not yet the retiring type.

Most of my ever-changing my schedule info. when i can get my elderly secretary (unfortunately myself) to type it up, is posted on my web page www.davidamram.com under Upcoming Events.

And my e-mail amramdavid@aol.com is always the best way to reach me as I carry my laptop with me everywhere, and Facebook, MySpace, etc., is hard to deal with and not always reliable!

You might find it fun to access an old performance of my 1971 Rondo a la Turca on the Internet for FREE!!!

The person who is conducting the Chicago Symphony and playing the middle eastern flute (who looks like my grandson) is actually a much younger looking me in 1977, recording for a PBS network TV show about my music. Pepper Adams and Jerry Dodgion are also playing.

In 1977, most of members of the Chicago Symphony who appear on the recording of this performance had never heard, much less ever played, very much music from the Middle East, and since I write everything out on paper accurately to indicate the way it should be played, that's what they were playing, and they actually began to sound like the Radio Beirut Orchestra, and suddenly as the piece went on, they started feeling something different than they had ever felt before, as they played.

It is really fun to watch their faces as they started getting ingo the old time magical groove that Middle eastern music creates and takes you into.

During the first few minutes of the piece, you can see the musicians all playing up a storm but looking as if they were thinking that I was an alien from another planet in outer space, and had brought some extra terrestrial music with me for them to play.

And then as the piece progresses, you can see, as well as hear, that by the end of the piece, the idiom of this music got them excited enough to be actually enjoying playing it!!

And playing it really well!

That's what music, like film, novels, poetry, painting, dance, language and good HOME COOKING does for all of us.

It takes you to that place from where it comes, and makes you feel that you now have a new home in a new part of the world.

I send cheers from that endless road and wish you joy and energy for all you do

David

Hi Tamm E!

I was just saying that you knocked this out of the park with TGJN. We have needed something like this for so long and I am telling my friends about this. I said that it is sort of like a myspace for jazz but it is actually so much more. This is real. The people here truly love jazz and we know people like that are not your average people.

I have felt for a long time that straight-ahead jazz has been slipping away from us. I have hope now that there will be a resurgence (or shall I say an insurgency:-) to bring this baby back full force!

You just knocked it out of the park. Thanks again.

xoxo,
Janie

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