HEADS UP!!! PAT METHENY (SUN. SEPT 25 TWO SHOWS) AND JAMES FARM (SAT. OCT 1) BOTH COMING TO THE ACOUSTICALLY PEFECT BROAD STAGE IN SANTA MONICA. GET TICKETS AND INFO AT WWW.THEBROADSTAGE.COM

Joshua Redman/Aaron Parks/Matt Penman/Eric Harland
James Farm
Nonesuch Records
www.nonesuch.com
By George W. Harris

Here is what they term a “Supergroup”: Redman/ts, Parks/p, Penman/b and
Harland/dr are all musical studs in their own right. They’ve gotten
together for a collection of originals, and the tunes are definitely
sophisticated and technically adroit. Redman, in particular, as an
extra layer of grease on his horn, as he varooms through “Coax” and
“Star Crossed.” The problem is that there only seems to by one dynamic;
it never gets too quiet or too loud, sort of like a jazz version of
indie-rock singers. The emotions, if there are any, are shown by
increasing or decreasing the speed, but the engine stays at the same
volume. It would have been nice if they disengaged the muffler on songs
like “1981” or “Chronos” and cleaned out the carburetor a little bit.
Rydalin Music for the ADHD generation?