Songs for Wandering Souls

Dave Douglas | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 10, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 10, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Winter & Winter
• ASIN: B00000JPNI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #398,158 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dave Douglas excels at many, many things. On the small, intimate themes featured on the breathtakingly delicate Charms of the Night Sky, he plays as if his horn were made of crystal. Earlier efforts such as In Our Lifetime or his work in John Zorn's Masada prove that the trumpeter is comfortable facing both wide-open solo horizons and driving, blow-the-house-down horn stomps. On Wandering Souls, however, Douglas and his Tiny Bell Trio (with Brad Shepik on guitar and Jim Black on drums) appear to be caught in the middle of a record without an easily graspable theme. Some songs wander, some roar, some skirt the Eastern European themes of Night Sky, but taken as a whole, this is an album featuring Douglas but without the clearly defined "center" of a Dave Douglas album. --S. Duda

From Jazziz

Trumpeter Dave Douglas plays open-ended, folksy jazz with his Tiny Bell Trio - Brad Shepik on electric guitar and Jim Black on drums. Pioneered by the Ornette Coleman Quartet at the end of the '50s and resuscitated for the '90s by John Zorn's Masada (of which Douglas is a member), this style isn't as simple as it looks on paper. Rejecting the urban power and professional glamour of hard bop, it requires a plaintive, vocal quality to the solos and an infectious rhythmic tilt. Masada succeeds because Zorn's compositions are so deft and prolix; the Douglas trio attempts to get by on improvisor chops - melodic gestures and spurts of exultation.

Shepik's approach owes a debt to the iconic Americana of Bill Frisell's guitarism. Unfortunately, his textures and rhythmic sense are too ordinary to transcend mere prettiness. On theme statements, Douglas has some of Don Cherry's cracked charm, but he reverts to generic jazz trumpet during his solos. Academic self-consciousness mars his unaccompanied sorties, as if he confuses obedience to the official note with expression. Throughout, poor rhythmic coordination blurs the ear-pricking intensity of creative post-Ornette trios (compare Henry Threadgill's Air, Xero Slingsby's Works, or Frisell on Gone, Just Like a Train).

The Cossack speed-metal of the final cut - "Ferrous" - is blatant encore fluff: You can see the smug Downtown grins. Bah.

--- Ben Watson, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kirk, Schumann and more!, January 25, 2001

By 

"anonymousrecluse" (Anytown, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs for Wandering Souls (Audio CD)

As a listener who prefers his jazz adventurous but not totally devoid of melodic content, this is one of my favorite recent releases. Trumpeter Dave Douglas, guitarist Brad Shepik, and drummer Jim Black offer a variety of memorable tunes in an amazing mixture of styles (jazz, balkan folk, 20th century classical) that is typical of Douglas. Who else could segue so seamlessly from a Rahsaan Roland Kirk composition to a Robert Schumann piece? Who else would even try? This is intriguing music for adventurous listeners who still like to tap their feet from time to time.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Gem From the Genius Mind of Dave Douglas, October 14, 2002

By 

Sam (Wheaton, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs for Wandering Souls (Audio CD)

As I now listen to this album for about the 400th time, I am still filled with some of the deepest emotions and feelings I've ever felt. Each song on this album is so uniquely different from the rest it's unbelievable how different you can make a trio of such instrumentation (trumpet, guitar, drums) sound. Each track fills you with a different and unique emotion, and are each equally fulfilling and captivating. The level of playing by each of these musicians is so impeccable it is easily comparable to the greatest works by such people as Trane, Miles, Bird, and the rest. I would easily put Dave Douglas up there on my list of most innovative and talented musicians of all time. Do not pass this one up. In fact, do not pass up any album that has the name "Dave Douglas" anywhere on it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tiny Bell Trio shines, January 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Songs for Wandering Souls (Audio CD)

As with his string group, first time listeners to the Tiny Bell Trio may find the instrumental line up a little odd. Getting used to Trumpet, Guitar and Drums may take a few listenings. The trio tackle Kirk's Breath-A-Thon and Schumann's Nicht so schnell, mit viel along with 8 Douglas originals including the appropriately titled "Wandering Souls" and the burning "Ferrous."