Joshua Redman Remix Contest

A note from Warner Brothers:

Winner

 

Runner Up

 

Contenders

 

Prizes

The winner will receive a copy of ACID PRO 4.0, Sound Forge 6.0 , five loop libraries of their choice and a Joshua Redman/Warner Bros. Jazz prize package.

About the Contest

"This project is something I've thought about since I started playing music seriously, ever since I started touring and recording as a leader," Redman explains. "I always had the sense that someday, I would do a project with a broader sonic pallet. Something that did not just use acoustic instruments, something more groove-based."

Redman describes his studio recording processes as "ninety percent live," a technique that keeps the spontaneity at the heart of all of his. "Rather than rely on the studio to make the music work, we wanted to do things that were more subtle, to use new sounds and technologies as a means to the end of making the music more expressive. So we cut everything live, then stepped back and saw how the raw material inspired us. The few edits and overdubs we did were ultimately dictated by the live, spontaneous tracks. It was essential to all of us that every sound we created had a natural basis as we entered the non-acoustic world. I didn't want the electric textures to leap out, but I didn't want the tricky harmonies and complex rhythms we used in spots to stick out, either. We had to feel intellectually and technically challenged, and still feel comfortable and natural with the music."

Elastic satisfies all the demands that Redman feels compelled to answer as a creative musician, and marks a vibrant new chapter in his odyssey. "This is definitely the most challenging music I've created," he acknowledges. "There's still a lot of swing in it, but there are also moments when it feels like we're playing funk and swing at the same time."

Here's your opportunity to experiment with BOOGIELAS T I C from Elastic. Can a remixer "jam?" Where you can you take BOOGIELAS T I C than it hasn't been already? Enter the Joshua Redman remix and find out.

About the Artist

New sound, old spirit might be the best way to distill the impact of Joshua Redman's new Warner Brothers disc Elastic. After a decade as one of the jazz world's most prominent, profound saxophonists and bandleaders in an acoustic setting, Redman adds new textures and tensions in what he calls the "electric, groove-based thing" of his brilliant new trio.

After experimenting with larger configurations that included guitars and bass as well as keyboards, Redman found his ideal partners in organist Sam Yahel and drummer Brian Blade. The interplay between musicians on Elastic forms a collection in which expanded compositional and production detail enhance the ensemble spontaneity at the unshakable core of Redman's conception.

For Redman, Elastic presented an opportunity to take bolder steps as a composer. "Jazz often treats composition only as a starting point," he admits, "a springboard for improvisation that you quickly get out of the way. I wanted to take a larger compositional approach, to tell multi-part stories without sacrificing identity and freedom and openness. I wanted to make the improvisations part of the greater meaning of the songs, without feeling limited the way a sax player does when told to take 8 bars and blow on an r&b session

The challenge allowed Redman to call upon many of his musical inspirations. "Weather Report, of all the electric groups, was the ultimate in striking that balance between composition and improvisation," Redman explains, "although rhythmically this band is probably coming more out of James Brown, Maceo Parker and the Motown sound." Other sources cited by the saxophonist include Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Prince, Earth Wind and Fire, Led Zeppelin, the Police, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, and such contemporary artists as D'Angelo, Meshell Ndegeocello, Radiohead and Bjork. "These sorts of influences have always been there," he notes, "but I suppose they might be a little more noticeable now, with this kind of project

We're excited about bringing Joshua Redman to ACIDplanet, and introducing his brand of jazz to remixers the world over. Can the spontaneity of improvisation coexist with the planned structuring of remixes? You decide.

And while you're thinking about it, pick up Elastic here.

And check out Joshua Redman on tour here.