- Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1990.
- Arranger, reed instrumentalist, bandleader and vocalist.
- His theme song (which he also wrote) was "Chant of the Weed".
- Became musical director for Pearl Bailey in 1951.
- Child prodigy, adept at playing every instrument in an orchestra, including oboe. His father was a music teacher, his brother Lewis, a band leader in Maryland. Redman learned trumpet before entering grade school and subsequently became especially proficient on alto saxophone. Studied music at conservatories at Chicago, Boston and Detroit, there adding the art of arranging to his repertoire.
- From 1923, Redman worked in Fletcher Henderson's band as saxophonist and staff arranger, leaving in 1927 to become musical director of McKinney's Cotton Pickers. He formed his own orchestra in New York in 1931, but continued to arrange for other bands, including those of Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie and Harry James. The Redman orchestra disbanded in January 1940, after which Redman resumed work as a free-lance arranger.
- Was one of the few left-handed conductors in the business.
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