Customer Reviews

In Our Lifetime

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"In Our Lifetime", the first CD by Dave Douglas' "tribute" sextet contains music by - and inspired by - trumpeter Booker Little. Generally 'inspired by' since most of the compositions are by Douglas. The compositions are excellent as are the perfomances. Although this is technically a sextet, producer Marty Erhlich adds some bass clarinet to the title track. One track I particularly enjoy is "Bridges (for Tim Berne)". Berne has many compositions whose titles are followed by "(for <somebody's name>)" so it's somewhat ironic that someone would finally dedicate a work to him . Plus most of the players in the band have worked with Berne; the composition itself is very close to Berne's style, not to mention the length (17 minutes). A very good recording by an all-star band.

Dave Douglas - trumpet, Chris Speed - tenor sax & clarinet, Josh Roseman - trombone, Uri Caine - piano, James Genus - bass, Joey Baron - drums, Marty Erhlich - bass clarinet.

Among the Douglas recordings I own this is among those that I find most consistently satisfying. It's the first album by the sextet that Douglas seems to convene for tribute projects--they've since recorded discs in tribute to Wayne Shorter & Mary Lou Williams. The subject of this disc is Booker Little, the brilliant young trumpeter who died at the age of 23; he's been much-admired but he's only infrequently cited as a musical influence (though, besides Douglas, Kenny Wheeler has shown a marked Little influence), & his ambitious compositions are rarely performed. Douglas picks three Little compositions, from _Out Front_ & _Victory & Sorrow_: they're given basically faithful readings, though with some reworking. (The most extensive change is to "Moods in Free Time"; in the original, the time-signature changes were confined to the head, while the improvisations took place over a pulseless repeated figure; here, the entire tune is used at the chorus structure.) Little favoured very tight, dissonant, melancholy voicings, and had a melodic sense that was quite oblique--these are qualities also present in Douglas's originals here (& also on other albums).

The pieces are quite complex and colourful; they have a distinctive sweet-sour, sometimes astringent quality which takes a while to get used to: this isn't an album that necessarily always _appeals_ on a first listen, especially in such abrasive tracks as "Shred". I'm not surprised that Tim Berne is the recipient of the dedication of the last piece, the long multipart composition "Bridges": there's much of the spikiness of Berne here, though Douglas lacks Berne's pugnaciousness. The title track is another complex structure like "Bridges", incorporating a 7th voice with Marty Ehrlich's bass clarinet. Elsewhere there are more straightforwardly attractive tracks: the lovely "At Dawn", "The Persistence of Memory", & "Out in the Cold", a terrific up-tempo swinger which incorporates a time shift into every chorus.

A very fine album. It's from the "tougher" side of Douglas's output rather than the gentler stuff (_Charms of the Night Sky_, _The Infinite_), but it's very much worth exploring. It also features some excellent playing from all the musicians, especially Douglas himself, who's in passionate form.

Dave Douglas's music is touched by genius. He seems always to be ploughing his own furrow, playing the music he wants to play and with partners of his choice. His impeccable taste and unique compostional style come from a deep understanding of jazz and contemporary music. This recording is probably my pick, but all come highly recommended. His sidemen know how to listen, the empathy is astonishing, it really is a joy to hear. I look forward to catching him on tour in England this Spring.

In Our Lifetime, which was recorded in 1995, was meant as something of a tribute to Booker Little. The band comprises Douglas on trumpet, Chris Speed on tenor sax and clarinet, Joshua Roseman on trombone, Uri Caine on piano, James Genus on bass, and Joey Baron on drums. Although I tried--I really did, I really tried--to get to like this recording, I found it for the large part quite tedious. There were some interesting moments, but it sounded for the most part overly earnest and overly busy, with drummer Baron especially overplaying his part. Your mileage may vary.

The sextet really digs into these tunes. The session includes compositions by Booker Little, whose tragic death deprived jazz of a voice of great potential, and Douglas' own work as a tribute to little.