Customer Reviews

Mountain Passages

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Returning with the rhythm section from Bow River Falls (Canadian husband and wife team Peggy Lee and Dylan van der Schiff), Douglas adds spectacular ex-pat wind player Michael Moore (alto sax, clarinet, and bass clarinet) and tuba maestro Marcus Rojas. The result: a richer and more diverse sound palette. Moore especially establishes a huge presence on this disc, finally establishing himself, one hopes, as among the greatest wind players of his generation. Just listen to his fluidly out-playing on "Family of the Climber," (and, really, on just about any number) which also features some very fine cello stylings from Peggy Lee and foundational percussions from Dylan van der Schiff.

Douglas seems to be indeed thriving in his new indie setting (this is his first disc on his self-produced label, Greenleaf, with distribution by Koch Records). Moreover, he at least distances himself from big-label capitalism, with which he apparently felt so uncomfortable in his RCA days. Freed from major label sales expectations, he's placed himself in at once more high-risk and congenial settings. Consequently, both his playing and that of his bandmates opens out into new vistas of freedom and exuberance.

Add to that a personal connection with his mountain-climbing father, who sadly passed away just before this music was released, and you have a disc of major significance.

Edgy yet accessible, with not only a brilliant concept but also huge buy-in and highest level playing from all concerned, this disc represents some of the finest jazz presented in this nascent year. I'm entirely taken by this tremendous disc.

Highly recommended.

You have to admire Dave Douglas. As a Dave fan with 12 or so cd's I can say with some confidence that this cat is always evolving, always "stretching" himself and jazz in general. Unfortunately Mountain Passages his latest leaves me cold. The tunes are short and it seems to be more like chamber-jazz as was Dave's recent[awful] Bow River Falls. There is some interesting improvisation from Douglas but not much is memorable. The tunes are almost like chamber "excercises" that are without feeling or emotion. Is it cerebral? I suppose. But as a jazz freak it's not particulary my cup of tea. Dave has dealt with strange instumentation before["Charms of a Night Sky","Five"]with varying sucess. Those cd's retained some resemblence to jazz with longer tunes,improvisation,etc. Lacking those things Mountain Passages doesn't work for me. For those of you new to Dave Douglas this is not the place to start. Better choices are "the Infinite", "Soul on Soul","Leap of Faith" and "Strange Liberation". Several of those cd's include the amazing Chris Potter on sax. Potter and Douglas are an amazing team in the vein of Miles,Coltrane of our times[hyperbole?]. I can't really reccommend "Mountain Passages" even though I love Douglas. I DO hope Dave keeps taking chances and swings for the fences. That's jazz after all.

I saw this group live and have their cd, and, as always, Dave strikes gold with Nomad and their debut release, Mountain Passages. If you like one of Dave's other groups, Charms of the Night Sky (the one with violin, accordian, etc.) then you'll love this. It has that element of hauntingly beautiful classical/chamber music, but along with a new intensity what with the reeds and drums. Its brilliant, and if you know good music, I'm sure you'll agree. Get it. I demand you to. Now. Press "buy now". Do it. Go. Now. Buy it. Now. Go. Bye.

While I believe that Dave Douglas and Nomad are very talented musicians, this compilation is way too off for my taste. I appreciate classical music and jazz but it just seems that what comes across is a discordant sound. After I heard it, I kept trying to "get it." In looking over many of his past works, there are a great deal of single reviews on individual CDs so I would suggest that anyone considering purchase look at the number of reviews and the stars and of course make their own choices.