Soul on Soul

Dave Douglas | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 8, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 8, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000040JEO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,137 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Album of the Year, May 29, 2000

By 

"pipcelot" (San Diego, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul on Soul (Audio CD)

I really do reserve that title for only one album every year. Now maybe my views will change by December 31, but I doubt it. First things first: even at his most accessible, Dave Douglas is not very accessible on first or second listen. But the more I listened to this album, the more I realized that these compositions are brilliant; these musicians are playing at the top of their game; and that they are interacting telepathically with one another. By the fifth listen or so, my ears were finally catching up to the wonderful music that these guys were hearing as they made the album. It was then that I realized why this album really is a heartfelt tribute to Mary Lou Williams. Sure, before that I knew that Douglas had thrown in some superficial tributes: for example, a few tunes were written by Mary Lou, and several tracks (most notably, Soul on Soul) incorporate stride piano lines and bebop licks and other styles that Williams played during her long career. But after repeated listenings, I realized that the real tribute comes in the nature of the music itself: it is highly experimental and deeply spiritual, which is precisely how I would describe Mary Lou Williams at her best. It is jazz and yet not jazz. It is soulful, but not in the Motown or even Judeo-Christian sense of the term. Douglas's life experiences are obviously not the same as Mary Lou Williams', but he brings to his music the same passion and self-assured identity that Mary Lou Williams brought to her music. It is hard to explain if you have not experienced it; just an overwhelming sense of peace and contentment that stems from the musician's confidence in his craft and where he is in his life. That quality enables the listener to enter the music, to get inside of it in a way that (in my experience) only Mary Lou Williams could duplicate. The music is all his own, which paradoxically is his real tribute to Mary Lou Williams.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dave Douglas does it again!, February 18, 2000

By 

Mr. T. Haillay "tim haillay" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soul on Soul (Audio CD)

On this, the third of DD's sextet recordings, he uses the music of Mary-Lou Williams as a springboard for his own compositions. The results are magnificent, from hard-swinging reinterpretations of M-L W, to more ruminative originals. The band are on fire, Joey Baron, James Genus and Uri Caine are in superb form; the sax chair is shared between Greg Tardy and the great Chris Speed (check out his Deviantics recording on Songlines); Josh Roseman is fantastic as ever (what a sound he has!). Dave Douglas can seemingly play what he wants, he has the chops to do anything, and what taste... This is vital, important music. Buy it!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elevating (not elevator) music, April 5, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Soul on Soul (Audio CD)

This is the album of the year, so far. Dave Douglas' compositions shine, thanks to the brilliant playing of these musicians, who represent the New York axis of cutting-edge jazz. Although this may be perhaps Douglas' most accessible work, it does not pander. Whether the tune is "in the groove" (Mary's Idea or Blue Heaven), a ballad (Kyrie or Canticle), or on the progressive side (Soul on Soul), Dave & co. present it in an intricate, yet uncluttered style that may bounce around the musical spectrum, but never stops swinging. This is serious music for serious listening, but I also find it to be very relaxing, even with that second cup of coffee. As for reviewer Douglas,listed below--a few simple mouse clicks will bring you to the Kenny G/Dave Koz pages, where the music should be more to your "taste".