Joshua Redman returns to Stanford for an extended stay

Charismatic jazz saxophonist and composer Joshua Redman returns to Stanford as a visiting artist with the Department of Music in the School of the Humanities and Sciences. Redman was the Mohr Visiting Artist with the Department of Music during winter quarter 2019 and he has a long history with the Stanford Jazz Workshop both as an alumnus of the summer jazz camp and as a faculty artist.

Redman will spend the first two quarters of this academic year teaching masterclasses, coaching the jazz combos and guest lecturing, as well as performing with the Stanford Jazz Orchestra. He will teach two levels of improvisation courses during the spring quarter.

“I’m thrilled to be continuing my journey at Stanford. It is a world full of exceptional individuals and vibrant communities, and I hope to be learning, and growing, here for a long time to come,” said Redman.

James Nadel, lecturer in the Department of Music and founder of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, notes that while jazz has been taught in the department for several decades, interest in the genre has recently flourished. He said of Redman’s earlier involvement with Stanford as Mohr Visiting Artist and his return, “It’s virtually unheard of to have one of the greatest jazz artists of our times in a significant residence at any university once, let alone twice.”

Jaroslaw Kapuscinski, associate professor of music and Department of Music chair, welcomes Redman back to campus. “I am delighted that the star jazz musician and recent Mohr Visiting Artist Joshua Redman has accepted our offer to stay with the department to teach jazz improvisation. Having him on campus allows us to provide our students with an exceptional opportunity to make music at a level few students can otherwise access, as well as sharing the outcomes of that work with the greater campus community. Redman’s passion, riveting music making and breadth of knowledge about jazz is contagious even beyond the field of music. He is someone who inspires the best in you.”

Born in 1969 in Berkeley, California, Joshua Redman is the son of legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman and dancer Renee Shedroff. He attended Berkeley High School where he was part of the award-winning Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble. In 1991, Redman graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude and was accepted by Yale Law School, but he deferred entrance for what he believed was only going to be one year. Moving to New York City, he immediately found himself immersed in the burgeoning jazz scene. Since then, Redman has worked and played with a vast array of jazz luminaries, released over 20 albums for Warner and Nonesuch, been nominated for a Grammy seven times, and garnered top honors in critics and readers polls in various music publications.