Nonesuch Records releases saxophonist Joshua Redman and pianist Brad Mehldau's Nearness, the longtime friends' and collaborators' first duo album, comprised of a selection of duets recorded live during their recent European tour. Mehldau first came to prominence as a member Redman's quartet in the 1990s before becoming a bandleader himself. The pair first reunited in 2010 when Redman was featured on Mehldau's album Highway Rider. In 2013, Mehldau was featured as a performer and producer on Redman's Walking Shadows.
"It's like one of those friendships where you don't see someone for a long stretch and then you fall right back where you left off," Mehldau told the Ottawa Citizen. According to the Citizen's Peter Hum, these two friends are "among the most potent and influential jazz instrumentalists of their generation, and what Mehldau calls 'picking up' is in fact world-class improvising before rapt audiences." The vinyl edition of Nearness comes on double LP pressed at Record Industry and is housed in a single pocket jacket with insert and download card.
- Ornithology
- Always August
- In Walked Bud
- Mehlsancholy Mode
- The Nearness of You
- Old West