Freddie Redd

Freddie Redd was an American bebop and hard bop pianist, composer, and bandleader. Self-taught, he was a deft soloist whose inventive left hand, capable of creating chords and countermelodies simultaneously, was widely celebrated. Though established as a bandleader and sideman from the mid-'50s on, he is best known for composing the music to Jack Gelber's The Connection, an off-Broadway play staged by the Living Theatre, depicting the lives of heroin-addicted jazz musicians -- he appeared as one in the production. His 1960 Blue Note album The Music from "The Connection" is amo...