Redman, (Walter) Dewey

Redman, (Walter) Dewey , jazz tenor and alto saxophonist, musette player, father of Joshua Redman; b. Fort Worth, Tex., May 17, 1931. He began playing clarinet at 13, performing in church and at Sam Houston Coll. In high school, he played in marching band with Omette Coleman, and in another group with Richard Williams and Leo Wright. From 1949–53, he studied and taught in Austin, Tex., and performed with R&B groups. He moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and played with Joe Gordon, Jimmy Woods, and Billy Higgins. He spent seven years in San Francisco, leading his own jazz groups, including the Monte Waters-Dewey Redman Quintet (November 1961), and working gigs with T-Bone Walker, The Five Royales, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulsom, and Bay Area Quintet. He played sessions or gigs with Pharoah Sanders and Wes Montgomery. He moved to N.Y. in 1967 and joined Coleman, performing and recording with him for seven years; during that time, he also worked with Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orch., Carla Bley, Roswell Rudd, JCOA, Don Cherry, and his own group. He formed the quartet Old and New Dreams with Haden, Cherry and Ed Blackwell. He recorded with Pat Metheny. He also did a duet record with his son and remains an active performer.

Discography

Look for the Black Star (1966); Tarik (1969); Ear of the Behearer (1974); Coincide (1974); Soundsigns (1978); Musics (1978); Redman and Blackwell in Willisau (1980); Struggle Continues (1982); Living on the Edge (1989); Choices (1992); African Venus (1992).

—Lewis Porter