One of the handful of surviving original hard-boppers Freddie Redd is turning 88 this month. The famed composer of the 60’s iconic off-Broadway play The Connection Redd ’s recording career has been, however, sporadic despite his great talent. His trio album “Music For You” (SCCD 31796) in 2014, the first in almost three decades rectified this trend following the precursory 2012 release of “Music Forever” (SCCD 31743) a tribute album to Redd’s music by altoist Chris Byars’ Octet. On this new album Redd presides over a sextet of much younger generations as performer and composer of old and new compositions embodied here to render a remarkable reminder of jazz’s longevity.

Due to his sporadic career Freddie Redd has kept a low profile for the last several decades. His name, however, stayed in people’s memory as the composer for the haunting music that accompanied The Connection (1959), a controversial play written by Jack Gelber. One of the last of classic bop generation, Freddie Redd at the age of 86, fragile yet debonair, still performs with lyrical clarity and sensitivity on this superb trio recording.