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Dave Douglas: Mountain Passages
Case in point: pathologically restless trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas' Mountain Passages , the first release by his newly minted Greenleaf label. The 41-year-old Douglas, who seems intent on creating a different ensemble for every day of the year (this is the debut recording by the quintet he calls Nomad), has made a fascinating career out of rampant eclecticism; any one of his twenty-plus leader discs is more likely to contain variations on Webern or Schumann or traditional Hungarian cs'rd's than Ellington or Weill. Thus, being a Douglas recording, Mountain Passages is almost predictable in its unpredictability, from its unconventional lineup (with reedist Michael Moore, cellist Peggy Lee, tubaist Marcus Rojas, and drummer Dylan van der Scheff) to the circumstances surrounding its genesis. (The Festival at the Sound of the Dolomites in Northern Italy asked Douglas to compose music that would be "played between nine and twelve-thousand feet"—and was.)
Comprised of twelve short Douglas originals (most clock in at around four minutes or less), it's a warm, airy, lyrical album, swept with snatches of Alpine folk melodies, woozy oom-pah rhythms, swanny balladeering, Raymond Scott-like cartoon swing and leisurely free improvisation. Yet the captivating Passages also has a tightly composed, chamber music feel to it; as is Douglas' habit with small ensembles, each instrument holds an equally prominent place in the conversation. The music is at turns solemn, whimsical, darkly melancholic and plaintively gorgeous, but what exactly is it? Jazz? Well, yeah... sort of... maybe... sure. It's certainly as much jazz as it is as anything else and—like all Douglas' explorations—undeniably worth your attention.
Track Listing
Summit Music; Family Of The Climber; Gnarly Schnapps; Gumshoe; Twelve Degrees Proof; North Point Memorial; Cannonball Run; Palisades; A Nasty Spill; Purple Mountains Majesty; Off Major; Bury Me Standing; Encore - All is Forgiven.
Personnel
Dave Douglas
trumpet
Michael Moore - Clarinet
clarinet
Marcus Rojas
tuba
Dylan van der Schyff
drums
Peggy Lee (cellist)
celloAlbum information
Title: Mountain Passages | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Greenleaf Music
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