Freddie Redd

Smalls; Fri 27, Sat 28

Freddie Redd in 1960

Photograph: Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images LLC

Pianist Freddie Redd is best known for his score to Jack Gelber's 1959 play, The Connection, a bleak rumination on drug abuse involving a jazz quartet and various hangers-on. Redd appeared not only in the original Living Theatre production, but also in Shirley Clarke's 1961 film version, which featured alto sax great Jackie McLean, among others. Blue Note reissued the soundtrack album in 2005; what's most striking about the music now is the sunny quality of Redd's bebop-oriented melodies, including "Who Killed Cock Robin?" and "Music Forever"—surprising rays of light within the dark subject matter.

Originally from New York but now headquartered in Los Angeles, Redd, 80, rarely performs on the East Coast, although he did make it here to play music from The Connection at Merkin Concert Hall two years ago. With an infectious smile and a broad-brimmed hat, he maintains a solid, swinging touch, true to his roots in the Harlem clubs of decades ago, when he immersed himself in the spry, life-affirming piano language of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver.

Redd's output for Blue Note and other labels proved sporadic; as McLean declared some years ago, "Freddie just appears from time to time, like some wonderful spirit." Now is one of those times—and Smalls, where Redd's brand of bluesy hardbop has never gone out of style, is just the place to host him. He'll have alert backing from saxophonists Chris Byars and Brad Linde, trombonist John Mosca, bassist Ari Roland and drummer Stefan Schatz.—David R. Adler

Download Freddie Redd's The Connection from iTunes | Buy it on BN.com | Buy it from Amazon.com

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