Customer Reviews

Strange Liberation

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

 

 

I'm writing this review because I've noticed that there are a few total Dave Douglas junkies who post on Amazon who are, in my view, a little hyperbolic. If I were browsing for an CD to try, I'm not sure I would find the rave reviews totally helpful. I myself can't say I'm a Dave Douglas fanatic, although I enjoy his CD's very much.
For me, the most striking thing about this new album is that it so directly mimics Miles Davis' sound from the Miles Smiles or Miles in the Sky era. As a longtime jazz listener, I'd say it's not that common to hear one serious artist so overtly pay homage to another. But I swear, if you close your eyes there are moments when you think you're listening to Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Miles et. al. And, of course, Bill Frisell, only adds to the illusion. Curiously, this is the second album in a row where Dave Douglas has paid homage to a specific era of Miles' music - the last one sounding almost dead-on like On the Corner or Live at the Filmore (if you have checked out Freak-In, and liked fusion jazz from the 70s, you should definitely get it. It's been in my CD changer continuously for almost a year).

I wouldn't give the album five stars in part because it is derivative. On my favorite Dave Douglas work, he's working with a more original sound. But the playing is absolutely wonderful. The tracks are varied. They swing beautifully. If you like that Miles sound from the late 60s you should definitely pick this up. If you don't own Miles Smiles and Nefretiti, you should buy them first since they are canonical, as Dave Douglas clearly agrees.

I've got to admit, I'm a little puzzled by the direction Dave Douglas has been moving in lately. I originally got into his playing through John Zorn's Masada, and his own highly original groups Tiny Bell Trio and Charms Of The Night Sky. It is noteworthy that in the liner notes to the 2000 album 'A Thousand Evenings' by the latter band Douglas wrote about the futility of reliving Miles classics such as 'Birth Of The Cool', 'Kind Of Blue' and 'Filles de Kilimanjaro'.

And yet here, just a few years later we see him very much in Miles mode, in not just this album but also the previous two ('Freak In' and 'The Infinite'). Now of course there's no denying that this album is good, the tunes are good, the players are all amazing, but it's just so *safe*. We know these guys can play the hell out of bop tunes - that's why we've been so thrilled to hear Douglas mixing it up with Balkan rhythms, or accordion and violin, or pianist Uri Caine arranging music by Mahler and Bach.

So anyway, on to special guest Bill Frisell... the prospect of these guys (two of my favourite musicians) making an album together a few years ago would have been one of the most exciting things imaginable. Now, they seem to be settling down, making pretty pleasant music without the danger we once knew from them. Like I said before, the playing is still great and all, but just a bit predictable, not a lot of sparks there.

It's not all *that* predictable though - for example they try out a 50s rock thing, which for my money doesn't really work. Apart from the awful name ('Rock Of Billy') it also just puts the vibe of the album out of whack for six minutes. The piece that follows, however, 'The Frisell Dream', is fantastic, one of my favourite Dave Douglas compositions in a long while. It is a little bit cluttered though, and I have to wonder, on this track as well as others, whether the six-piece band is so necessary (despite the players' obvious talents).

I've listened to this album a lot since it came out earlier this year and I still can't make up my mind. Is it great or just good? What make it enjoyable for me are Dave Douglas's playful and complex compositions, Bill Frisell's twangy guitar playing, and Uri Caine on the Fender Rhodes. (If there is any more satisfying work on this instrument since Herbie Hancock in the early 1970s, I'd like to know.) But taken as a whole the aesthetic choices on this album seem oddly inconsistent. There are noticeable echoes from middle and late 60s Miles, but the influence of Bill Frisell is even stronger, and I think I hear things from other greats as well, including Wynton Marsalis, Clifford Brown, and John McLaughlin. (Huh? you ask. That's my reaction too.) It is a tribute to the strength of the trumpet playing by Douglas, Caine's keyboard work, and Chris Potter on the tenor sax that Frisell's intensely unique electric guitar does not take over, especially since some of the compositions were written by Douglas with Frisell in mind, but, unlike any Frisell album I've heard, the variation in style and tone on this album leaves me feeling off-balance and dissatisfied. If this is liberation, it is a strange liberation indeed.

. . . and the results are pretty spectacular.

First of all, he's now got himself a real band--at least that's what he says in the liner notes. And what a band it is! Chris Potter, fast emerging as THE tenor sax voice of his generation, is on board. If he's still a member of the Dave Holland Quintet, that means he regularly plays in just about the two hottest gigs around. In the past couple of years, his tone has deepened, his soloing has become at once more assured and adventurous, and his general presence more authoritative.

Uri Caine has also emerged as a monster keys man. Playing Fender Rhodes exclusively on this outing--which will likely make purists moan in despair (but so what)--he manages to create exactly the right vibe and colors for this thoroughly contemporary electric jazz set. Moreover, he manages to get quite a wide range of expression from an instrument not known for its tonal and timbral versatility.

I've always thought James Genus was underrated. A player equally at home on acoustic or electric bass, he gets a weighty tone from his acoustic and creates a very funky feel on electric, perfectly a propos in this setting which straddles tradition and innovation.

Clarence Penn is an inspired choice for the drum chair. A player of both subtlety and power, he constantly sets a tasty table for the front liners.

Douglas's playing on this outing is the best I've ever heard from him. He sports a darker tone with a new-found gravitas. Yes, he can still be very declamatory and expressive, but he seems more interested in shaping a unique sound signature and finding his proper place in it than in showing off his not inconsiderable chops, a welcome development for one as gifted as he is. And his soloing seems to have a new architectural sense that notches his playing up to a new level.

The ringer here is guest Bill Frisell on guitar. After listening to him and the leader play together, creating a soundscape so natural as to sound almost inevitable, one wonders why they'd never played together before, and one also imagines what this band could become were he a permanent member. Indeed, his Heartland jazz aesthetic is all over this disc (esp., "Mountains from the Train," featuring some very cool and atmospheric harmonics and other guitar effects. One of the most poignant moments is a tender passage in "Just Say This," where Frisell magically comps behind a muted trumpet solo of both great power and delicacy from Douglas. Potter's solo which follows is also among his best on disc, and Frisell tops things off with an absolutely stunningly beautiful twangy solo.

This band has the capability of a huge range of emotional statement, with its general MO being a highly charged approach situated in a slightly eerie Americana vibe obviously largely a result of Mr. Frisell being on board. But there's also a faux-50's number, "Rock of Billy"; a turbo-charged bop-samba, "Seventeen"; a Monkish tune, "Skeeter-ism," whose genesis, according to the liner notes, came from an eight-year-old friend of Douglas's trying to play "Blue Monk"; a wacky waltz, "The Frisell Dream," featuring some gorgeous ensemble playing; a nifty piece of impressionism, "Passing Through"; a sprightly ballad that morphs into a Latin-feeling number featuring probably the finest Fender Rhodes solo on record plus nearly topped by a marvelous solo from Potter; and a rocking, rollicking Nu Bop tune, "Catalyst," magically propelled by Clarence Penn, that eventually works itself up into a near freak-out, largely powered by a mind-boggling solo from Frisell, with Potter upping the ante on his brilliantly expressive solo, until the entire band just kinda blows everything out of the water, fading out to some Frisell weirdness. Quite a send-off.

All in all, this is a tremendous disc, even topping, I think Freak-In, which I didn't think possible. A powerful, endearing musical statement that should appeal to all with open ears.

Some people claim that this album is not breaking new ground and therefore it is not a great album. I completely disagree. The album has great song writing and amazing performances from the musicians. While it doesn't offer some instrumentation that has never been tried before, it does feature Dave writing songs with Bill Frisell in mind which results in a wide array of interesting tunes. Frisell Dream has a sort of etheral spaciness while Rock of Billy featuers a hill billy rocabillia groove. Both of these moods plus many more that are present on the album are things you might expect on a Bill Frisell album. Skeeterism was based off of his young son's interpretations of Blue Monk on a toy piano. This is one of the best albums of the past few years.

I am a long time Frisell fan. I try to catch him each time he comes through town. That being said I was very excited when I spotted online that he was collaborating with Dave Douglas' band. Wow!! is all I can say after listening to the album. If you are a fan of earthy, organic jazz this album is for you. It will sweep you away to a place unknown. Wonderful lyrical playing by all involved. The use of Fender Rhodes exclusively, really adds to the vibe. Frisell lets loose on his solos, and is given ample space to explore an idea. Dave Douglas' trumpet sounds as sweet as I've ever heard it. (Is there a better trumpet player out there right now??) Uri Caine adds a ton of color, and lays down some mesmerizing solos, and Chris Potter is mind blowing as usual. The rhythm section is very solid and grooves nice & loose. The compositions are really what raise this into classic territory. Great stuff folks. I highly recommend this to all fans of Mr. Frisell & anyone who enjoys boundless jazz music. Ahhh it sure is nice to hear some original music once in a while!

I overdrew my checking account to buy this album. This meant the CD cost much more than the 15 dollars I paid initially. Do I care? No way. This session is amazing. IF YOU THINK THERE'S NO WAY A BAND LIKE THIS CAN BOMB YOU ARE TOTALLY CORRECT - THERE IS SEEMINGLY NO WAY. If there are big egos to be had by some of the major stars involved, a guy like Chris Potter can keep them in check. Why Chris? Because this guy has just hit his groove, his vision will you, recently and he ain't gonna let anything stand in the way. And doesn't. Everything comes together like a good chocolate cake.I get giddy thinking about how many ideas must of been floating around all the musicians minds involved and what else sits waiting to be uncovered by them. When you got a good thing going, KEEP THE BALL ROLLING! fRISELL MUST HAVE PLENTY TO ADD WHEN THESE GUYS GO BACK FOR ROUND II.

Wow. This has some really nice Bill Frisell guitar work. The album starts with some more contemplative tracks, which features Frisell's more recent style very well. However, it picks up steam, and the second half of the album has some very electric and rocking material. Uri Caine is great again on Fender Rhodes (even though I preferred Jamie Saft's sound from the previous album, Freak In). Dave Douglas is in fine form. Unlike "Freak In," this is a more consistent and composed effort that seems to find the middle ground between "Freak In" and "The Infinite." It's one of Douglas' best solo albums, so fans won't be disappointed.

I basically agree with mark21765. It's a great album with excellent playing from everyone, but it's not very adventurous. Indeed, it sounds a bit like Miles' quintet. It's Frisell's guitar playing that makes it a bit unique. I love Frisell. I somehow like Douglas' more daring and interesting projects. I love Uri Caine, too, but his own projects are much more fun and exciting. I can't say anything bad about this album, it's excellent, but I was expecting a little more creativity from Douglas.

Charmingly effective, convincingly flowing combination of technicality, melody, and experimentation yields one of Douglas's more potent concoctions in jazz freedom.