Strange Liberation

Strange Liberation

ASIN: B00016XNGQ

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
He may deny it, but trumpeter Dave Douglas is straight out of Miles Davis. Nothing aurally illustrates that influence more clearly than this small-combo recording with Uri Caine on Fender Rhodes piano, drummer Clarence Penn, bassist James Genus, and bass clarinetist-saxophonist Chris Potter. Douglas has recorded a number of ambitious projects over the years--from Middle-Eastern-inspired compositions to hip-hop-oriented works--but in this tried-and-true format, he extends and elaborates on the mid-'60s sounds of Davis's Miles in the Sky and Filles de Kilimanjaro. Like that of the Prince of Darkness, Douglas's trumpet beams with the same bravura, backed by Caine's Herbie Hancock-style keyboard, Penn's moody and martial drumming, and Genus's rock-steady bass on the uptempo "Seventeen," the Wayne Shorter-like title track, and the bluesy "Rock of Billy." Throw the twilight-toned twang of Bill Frisell's guitar into this mix, and you've got a CD that shows how to deftly blend the electric with the acoustic, resulting in a fusion that declares it roots and points the way to the future. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Strange Liberation,Dave Douglas,RCA,Avant-Garde Jazz,Contemporary Jazz,Jazz,Jazz Music,Modern Creative,Pop,Progressive Jazz

Average customer rating:

Dave Douglas' Best

Strange Liberation or Strange Brew?

Dave in Miles mode

Enjoyable, but not his best

Homage to Miles

Strange Liberation
Dave Douglas
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Freak In

Soul on Soul

Charms of the Night Sky

The Infinite

Critical Mass

ASIN: B00016XNGQ
Release Date: 2004-01-27

Tracks:

Under A Different Story
Strange Liberation
Skeeter-Ism
Just Say This
Seventeen
Mountains From The Train
Rock Of Billy
The Frisell Dream
Passing Through
Jones
Catalyst

Amazon.com

He may deny it, but trumpeter Dave Douglas is straight out of Miles Davis. Nothing aurally illustrates that influence more clearly than this small-combo recording with Uri Caine on Fender Rhodes piano, drummer Clarence Penn, bassist James Genus, and bass clarinetist-saxophonist Chris Potter. Douglas has recorded a number of ambitious projects over the years--from Middle-Eastern-inspired compositions to hip-hop-oriented works--but in this tried-and-true format, he extends and elaborates on the mid-'60s sounds of Davis's Miles in the Sky and Filles de Kilimanjaro. Like that of the Prince of Darkness, Douglas's trumpet beams with the same bravura, backed by Caine's Herbie Hancock-style keyboard, Penn's moody and martial drumming, and Genus's rock-steady bass on the uptempo "Seventeen," the Wayne Shorter-like title track, and the bluesy "Rock of Billy." Throw the twilight-toned twang of Bill Frisell's guitar into this mix, and you've got a CD that shows how to deftly blend the electric with the acoustic, resulting in a fusion that declares it roots and points the way to the future. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Customer Reviews:

Dave Douglas' Best.......2006-04-26

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.

Strange Liberation or Strange Brew?.......2004-06-11

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.

Dave in Miles mode.......2004-04-28

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).

Enjoyable, but not his best.......2004-03-29

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.

Homage to Miles.......2004-02-20

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.

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music