eMusic Review 0
Over the course of 20 albums as a leader, trumpeter Dave Douglas has reconfigured the role of his instrument within jazz while broadening the music’s ever flexible palette as a composer and arranger. Whether performing the music of Kurt Weill and Stravinsky backed by a string trio, fusing Eastern European folk and American improvisation, composing with ’20s silent film star “Fatty” Arbuckle as inspiration, or simply blasting away with his brass-centric Brass Ecstasy band, Douglas is seemingly never at a loss for creative outlets or ideas.
Be Still may be Douglas’s most distinctive project to date. Performed by a new quintet and joined by vocalist Aoife O’Donovan of progressive bluegrass band Crooked Still, Be Still is a plaintive collection of hymns and folk songs altered by detailed, jewel-like improvisations and O’Donovan’s delicate vocals, which often recall Alison Krauss.
Each song receives a unique treatment: Opener “Be Still” evokes a lush, expansive Americana somewhere between Union Station and Bruce Hornsby, with the band erupting in flashes of cresting improvisations. “High on a Mountain” introduces a bit of yee-haw! hokum, its jig-like rhythm and hillbilly vocal melody sounding rather stilted coming from these New York City jazz musicians, save Matt Mitchell’s bright piano interlude.… read more »
