Dave Douglas - Meaning and Mystery

[jazzbo]

I'm pretty new to enjoying Dave Douglas. I like this one a lot, and I really like an earlier very harmelodic string one that I think is called "Convergence" (?). That is exceptional.

I'm going to ease my way into some others.

Edited April 1, 2007 by jazzbo

[Late]

Here's a different perspective:

I've been to three Douglas concerts and met him once in person, and he wasn't smug at all. On the contrary, he was especially generous with his time, talking to younger musicians (some who had participated in a jazz camp up in Banff where Douglas was a faculty member) and remarking how smaller cities, namely the one I live in, have an active interest in creative improvised music.

Having said that, not all Douglas albums work for me, and I would never want to hail Douglas as some kind of "savior" for jazz, though the jazz community at large (or maybe it's just critics) always seem to want to create one. I haven't heard Meaning and Mystery yet, but am still enjoying Keystone and Freak In.

Any artist is going to come under fire in direct proportion to how much attention they receive. I also believe that, historically speaking, this "fire" is levelled by those who, proportionately, receive less attention.

[jazzypaul]

One thing I like about Douglas is the fact that he seems open to just about anything. Tiny Bell Trio to Freak In...that's a helluva lot of ground to cover. And to my ears, he does it convincingly.

Strangely, given the vast size of his output thus far, there's only a couple of things that I've really loved. But when he's on...damn, he is on.

[GA Russell]

OK, you guys have convinced me. I've added it to my Your Music queue.