In addition to Redman’s Elastic Band, including Sam Yahel on keyboards and Jeff Ballard on drums, Momentum is chock-full of great guest appearances including guitarists Jeff Parker, Eric Krasno, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Peter Bernstein as well as trumpeter Nicholas Payton, vibraphonist Stephon Harris, bassists Meshell N’Degeocello, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and ?uestlove of The Roots. Whew!

The Elastic Band started informally in a semi-jam session setting down at Smalls, a jazz club in New York. Sam Yahel would call Redman and drummer Brian Blade to come sit in on an irregular basis. At a certain point, Redman guided the group away from straight ahead Hammond B3 organ playing toward music more oriented to an electric groove. “I kind of usurped the band to explore a more electric groove base,” Redman says.

Redman’s Freedom in the Groove (1996) consciously made reference to a groove based style, but this was more of a hybrid record integrating straight ahead elements as well. On Momentum, he is more focused sonically and rhythmically.

“Everything organically should flow from what comes before it,” Redman says. The two paths taken with the Elastic Band and the SF Collective show two sides of a versatile jazz musician. One is all acoustic, the other is primarily electric. One emphasizes swing and celebrates classic modern composition, while the other hinges on original grooves and tight, tailored lines. “In both settings, the goal is to improvise freely and creatively,” says Redman. “We strive to create exciting, meaningful music that is appropriate to the musical context.”

The rhythmic precision at the core of Momentum screams through the stereo as high hat hits and tricked out bass lines let Redman and co. carve out the sonic sweet spots.