There is indeed a spirit that moves through Dave Douglas' first Brass Ecstasy recording: the late Lester Bowie. Bowie's Brass Fantasy group cut a few compelling albums that combined cover versions of all sorts of music -- as well as originals -- that were arranged for a brass orchestra. The most famous of these, The Great Pretender, is an obvious model for Douglas on this outing. The four brass players include Vincent Chancey on French horn, Luis Bonilla on trombone, Marcus Rojas playing the tuba, and Douglas, of course, on trumpet. Ace drummer Nasheet Waits is the drummer. Of the 11 tunes here, nine are originals. The two covers are standouts in how they strike the different ends of the spectrum: Otis Redding and Steve Cropper's "Mister Pitiful" is a three-minute romp that could be a hit single all over again if we had anything like radio anymore. Its arrangement combines Memphis grit with New Orleans Basin Street joy, and the chart, through straightforward, has some beautifully subtle harmonic touches. The other cover, Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (which has become somewhat of a staple of Douglas' generation of jazzmen), is a bit longer, and its arrangement, at least in the intro, evokes the Gil Evans arrangement approach to harmony and dynamic; it's soft, elongated, elegant and spare, and deeply moving. Douglas' muted trumpet sings the melody very quietly with contrasting, near contrapuntal harmonics and a bluesy improvisation on the lyric in the second verse as Rojas' tuba keeps a steady one-two bassline.
It's Douglas' originals that really count here, however. There are two fine tribute pieces. "Bowie" is the most provocative in that it pits freedom and form against one another from the jump. The rhythmic pulse of the drum kit, the trumpet, and the trombone go right into the fray together with that French horn softening those blows just a shade. Yet the production is so warm and natural that there are no shrill edges despite the adventurous improvisation. The march in the middle of the piece -- acting as a bridge -- is a wonderful touch and captures the spirit of the title's subject perfectly. "Rava" is the most deeply personal tune on the set. The American jazz trumpet tradition that reached Europe in the '50s and '60s was turned into something gorgeously modern and lyrically sophisticated. Here, it comes back home with tradition and expressionistic textures as Douglas pays tribute to one of his influences. "Orujo," with its pan-Latin rhythmic approach and syncopated horn lines, juxtaposes traditions in perfect balance with the blues added as the great equalizer in its lyric feel. This track gives way to the adventurous yet lush harmonics of "The View from Blue Mountain." They are completely and seamlessly symmetrical, applied in ascending and descending order rather than in a horizontal sprawl, and clearly touched by the music of Nino Rota. In sum, Spirit Moves is a welcome departure for Douglas, who has been working with his longtime electric band and more recently with his great Keystone group. It's beautiful because, though it moves radically from the concerns of his other groups, it does indeed restate his deep love for the tradition while expressing his forward-thinking notions of group interplay as well as his own healthy, warm sense of humor.
Dave has a guest post on solo trumpet recordings at Destination : out. Here's a sample…Solo Tubes : A guest post by Dave Douglas June 30th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Dave Douglas, guest postsWe at D:O are incredibly honored to be able to present the following guest post from composer, trumpeter, blogger, label magnate, and all-around brass advocate Dave Douglas. If you like what you read and hear he
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May 29th, 2009 | Author: Jim Tuerk |Categories: Listening, MusicYou ever get into a mood where all you can listen to is one artist? I've been sitting here for the last few days working away on getting the word out on this killer Brass Ecstasy record all while listening to Mingus records on repeat. Mingus (x5), Mingus in Wonderland, Black Saint…, Pithecanthropus Erectus, Oh Yeah, Shoes of the F.
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Dave has a guest post on solo trumpet recordings at Destination : out. Here's a sample…Solo Tubes : A guest post by Dave Douglas June 30th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Dave Douglas, guest postsWe at D:O are incredibly honored to be able to present the following guest post from composer, trumpeter, blogger, label magnate, and all-around brass advocate Dave Douglas. If you like what you read and hear he
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May 19th, 2009 | Author: Jim Tuerk | Categories: Dave Douglas (News), Dave Douglas (Updates), Greenleaf Music NewsWe are getting some great feedback on Dave's new album. We thank everyone for the outpouring of support and kind words. But as much as we love hearing how much everyone is loving the record, be sure we'd love it more if you told someone you know who hasn't heard the record yet. ...
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May 29th, 2009 | Author: Jim Tuerk |Categories: Listening, MusicYou ever get into a mood where all you can listen to is one artist? I've been sitting here for the last few days working away on getting the word out on this killer Brass Ecstasy record all while listening to Mingus records on repeat. Mingus (x5), Mingus in Wonderland, Black Saint…, Pithecanthropus Erectus, Oh Yeah, Shoes of the F.
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June 10th, 2009 | Author: Jim Tuerk |DD Mixtape The first ever Greenleaf contest. And it's a good one, too. All you have to do is submit your perfect Dave Douglas mixtape and you're immediately be entered to win some great prizes and have your mixtape featured on our site. We hope to hear from you. And we're excited to see the content our Greenleaf community (and beyond) comes up with. Detai...
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May 15th, 2009 | Author: Jim Tuerk | Categories: Dave Douglas (News), Dave Douglas (Updates), Greenleaf Music News, Music…and we're up!Click over the to Spirit Moves page at our webstore to see the packages we've put out there for you. The album is streaming in it's entirety at that page as well. Plus there's a new video from the DVD that is included in the Deluxe packaging. And there is sheet .
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May 15th, 2009 | Author: Jim Tuerk | Categories: Dave Douglas (News), Dave Douglas (Updates), Greenleaf Music News, MusicWorking around the clock over here to get Dave's new record Spirit Moves happening. Updates to follow later this afternoon.While we work, wet your whistle on a new track streaming on our sidebar player. "Great Awakening" is the penultimate track on the record and one of ou...
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We're about 2 weeks out from the launch of the preorder for Dave's newest record, Spirit Moves. Artwork is printing, press is buzzing, radio is playing, videos are streaming (for subscribers), and the tunes are blasting from our open windows. We'll be posting more on this very soon. For now, check out the cover art — thanks to Matt at Get A Clue for all his hard work — and the final trackli
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from http://greenleafmusic.comEpisode 2 of Icons Among Us hits tonight. AllAboutJazz recently published an article with a few words regarding this Documentary Channel series. Click here to read the article.In this episode, viewers will get a sneak peak of Brass Ecstasy filmed last December. Of course, our subscribers already got the first peak into Dave Douglas' band last week when we posted...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 This Love Affair |
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| 2 Orujo |
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| 3 The View from Blue Mountain |
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| 4 Twilight of the Dogs |
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| 5 Bowie |
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| 6 Rava |
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| 7 Fats |
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| 8 The Brass Ring |
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| 9 Mister Pitiful |
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| 10 Great Awakening |
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| 11 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Spirit Moves")
