Redman Mehldau McBride Blade

This newly reunited jazz supergroup possesses “a scary level of talent,” said Giovanni Russonello in The New York Times. It’s been 26 years since saxist Joshua Redman gathered pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade to create an all-star quartet whose 1994 album, MoodSwing, helped establish all four as jazz’s “Generation X figureheads.” In their second-ever joint outing, they remain avatars of a moment when jazz’s young lions found prestige in subtly building upon tradition, and yet the record “shows how firmly each musician has grown into his own identity, as an improviser, a composer, and an accompanist.” RoundAgain’s seven original songs negotiate a balance between “the swinging and the sober,” said Chris Pearson in The Times (U.K.). It’s especially nice to hear Redman and Mehldau loosen up in the company of the ensemble’s groovy bassist and drummer. Listen, for example, to Redman’s “Silly Little Love Song” and McBride’s “Floppy Diss,” a tune with an air of “Mingus-like merrymaking.”