Jazz tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman is bringing a new level of challenge and innovation to his audience. I saw Redman and his quartet perform last week at SF Jazz, where they played songs from their new album Still Dreaming.

The quartet is made up of all-star drummer Brian Blade, cornetist Ron Miles, and bassist Scott Colley and represents a nod to Redman’s father’s quartet Old and New Dreams, a band that played from the mid-1970s to the mid-’80s, with Dewey Redman on tenor saxophone like his son.

At the heart of the music is the interplay between Redman on saxophone and Miles on cornet (basically a tiny trumpet). The two alternate among harmonizing, playing together in discordant fashion, taking turns with solo pieces and melodies, and playing simultaneously almost like two people talking past each other.

Filling in the spaces is the incredible percussion of Blade, perhaps most famous for providing the solo drum soundtrack to the Academy Award-winning movie Birdman with Michael Keaton. Colley on bass provides solid grooves, tasteful melodies, and guitar-like solos.

At Friday’s concert, they opened with the contemplative album-concluding track The Rest (video above), then segued into the upbeat New Year opening track. Along the way, they played Redman’s newish song “Facts” (written in January 2017 around the time of Trump’s inauguration) and Last Rites of Rock n’ Roll, a song Redman said he grew to hate performing until this new band played it. He opened that song with a long solo intro featuring circular breathing (continuous playing by breathing in through the nose while simultaneously breathing out into the horn).

The band also covered Ornette Coleman’s Broken Shadows. The music overall is reminiscent of Coleman’s avant garde approach to jazz, with broken melodies and seeming off-notes, a kind of musical deconstruction. They then concluded with an encore performance of the bluesy Turnaround, from Redman’s early 1990s album Wish.

Redman’s new work and accompanying performance is not meant to get the audience toe-tapping or to revel in solo pyrotechnics. Instead, the songs are thoughtful, intellectual, and full of emotional and sonic range (particularly using quiet as a sound). It’s a challenging but enjoyable experience that stays with you long after the show ends.