Blue Notes: Joshua Redman

Saxophonist Joshua Redman's early albums in the 1990s raised high expectations, but not all of his recordings since have fulfilled their promises.

However, may be the best since his eponymous debut as a leader back in 1993. Despite some continuity of personnel, this is a very different set from the last album released under his name, 2009's . , released in 2011, was made by a collective.

was a pianoless trio set, with a shifting cast of bassists and drummers. For this album - which takes its title from one of the most famous speeches in Shakespeare's - he again chose to work with regular associates bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Brian Blade, adding pianist Brad Mehldau and a string section augmented by flute and French horn.

Mehldau's involvement was crucial to the project. He also produced the album and contributed to the orchestral arrangements. He and Redman collaborated on the former's 2010 album, , but the full quartet last convened for Redman's 1998 .

Like that album, this is a set of ballads which juxtaposes Great American Songbook standards with the work of more recent composers. The crucial difference is the presence of the orchestral players.

"The strings add a richness and a lushness, a romanticism and even a touch of nostalgia to the music. But we also wanted that to be balanced with an intimacy and a directness and a rawness, so as we started to think about the different tunes, we also thought about the different possible configurations for them," says Redman.

"There are six songs with strings, but two of them don't have the rhythm section. And there are quartet songs, a couple of trio songs - one without bass, one without piano - a duo song. We tried to explore a variety of instrumentation and texture in the course of making the record."