Dave Douglas at the Royal Academy of Music [via London Jazz]
photo by Hana Zushi
Last week, just after posting some in-depth thoughts on the workshop and mentorship process, Dave started working with students at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Lucky for all of us on this side of the Atlantic, guitarist Alex Roth gives us a detailed account of the week at the London Jazz blog.
Congrats to the Royal Academy of Music as well for receiving the composition archive of Kenny Wheeler who was in attendance for the final big-band concert. For those following Dave on Twitter, perhaps you saw that on top of playing repertoire from the A Single Sky big band album, he debuted a new piece for Kenny titled ‘From Thin Air (for Kenny Wheeler)’. Hoping we can all hear it soon.
No Comments
Banff Workshop application deadline, January 23rd
Banff International Workshop
in Jazz and Creative Music
Celebrate a decade of director Dave Douglas
Program dates: May 21, 2012 – June 9, 2012
Application deadline: January 23, 2012
Under the leadership of trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas and his hand-picked group of leading jazz faculty, this unique program leaves the rigid academic environment behind, encouraging creativity and facilitating leaps of artistic innovation. Participants benefit from daily master classes, small ensemble rehearsals, and common sessions with some of the world’s most inspiring jazz musicians.
Club and concert performances, recording sessions, and opportunities to workshop new compositions allow artists to further develop original music in a collaborative and supportive environment.
*Financial assistance is available.
Apply today
No Comments
Dave Douglas & Greenleaf in 2011
As we sift through our epically full inboxes and move further and further away from vacation daze, we can’t help but get a little nostalgic for 2011—even as it’s just passed. There was a new website, a new music series, new artists, new albums… it seems everything was NEW last year. So before we can move on to all the goings-on we have scheduled this calendar year, a quick recap of some of the music we released in 2011 is necessary for us in this crazy hit-it-and-forget-it internet world we’ve all grown accustomed to.
Donny McCaslin’s Perpetual Motion
Donny went from a sparse but blazing tenor trio album Recommended Tools [2008] to the large ensemble Declaration album [released on Sunnyside, 2010] all the way to this electric album filled with angular post-bop, blistering polyphonic funk, backbeat-driven R&B, and delicate, ethereal balladry. And we thank him for it. It’s partly due to this music that the Key Motion Quintet came to be—but we’ll get to that.
Curtis Macdonald’s Community Immunity
Curtis’ debut album sounds more like his fourth or fifth. The depth of the compositions and the blowing from everyone on board sold us the second we heard it. As Dave put it early on: “The pieces on this recording are like little puzzles with moving parts that fit together in the strangest ways.” If you didn’t pick this album up, you should, because it burns from start to finish.
Greenleaf Portable Series, Cloud Player
As everyone knows, we like to take on at least one bigger project every year, and this was our 2011. And really, what better way to allow Dave to be his compositore prolificano than to record three disparate groups providing the vehicle for his new music. We’re glad that you agreed and supported the series, both as the digital albums, and in the Three Views box set. We hope to do another batch of GPS’s this year, so stay tuned.
All of that music, and all our music from the past 7 years of operation are housed at our new Cloud Player. Subscribers can access it all for a nominal annual fee. It’s our way of saying that catalog isn’t dead, at least ours. We’ll be making updates including First Listen’s to new albums regularly. Consider joining our community by subscribing.
Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy, GPS1: Rare Metals
The first of three. New compositions for a band that made it’s recording debut not too long ago—three years might be a long time, but for us, this group is still fresh.
Orange Afternoons Quintet, GPS2: Orange Afternoons
Dave with Ravi Coltrane, Vijay Iyer, Linda Oh, and Marcus Gilmore. ’nuff said.
Dave Douglas & So Percussion, GPS3: Bad Mango
This is the one that we were most excited about hearing around the office when we first heard of the possibility. “What would it be like?,” we thought. Well, it sounded like nothing we’d heard out of Dave before, in the best and most exciting way possible. The tunes Dave chose for this ensemble were perfectly matched, some spacey and floating dripping with tinkerings, some unabashedly sharp and driving.
GPS at Jazz Standard
Lucky folks in NYC continue to get lucky around the holidays. It seems every year Dave pulls a rabbit out of his hat and throws a shindig at somewhere in town to celebrate the year. 2011 was no different with Dave bringing in not only the three ensembles chronicling the GPS releases, but also a new band co-led by Donny McCaslin called Key Motion. Expect to hear more from that band, and all these shows in the coming months.
Three Views for charity
A special thanks to all those who got involved in the charity drive we put on at the end of the year. Thanks to you, we were able to contribute more that we hoped to the charities we listed and that you suggested. We hope the 17-player autographed copy of the Three Views box finds a nice place on your mantle or CD rack—you deserve it. We hope we can do something similar next year. Again, thanks for your generosity.
What else?
I’m sure I’m forgetting to write a bunch of things—music or otherwise—that Dave Douglas & Greenleaf were a part of in 2011. But maybe that’s a good thing. As Dylan said, “Don’t Look Back.” We don’t want to push the past too hard, just remind you of it in all it’s glory. And now that we’ve reminded you, onwards and upwards to 2012. Expect good things.
No Comments
Limited-edition autographed Three Views box for your contribution to charity.
The end of a year is always a time to look around at some excellent nonprofits and charities that we can help. And when we were at Jazz Standard celebrating GPS with four different groups, we took the time to have all the musicians sign a few copies of the Three Views box set. We will be selling them and donating all the proceeds to charity. We’re suggesting a donation of $100 or more to any of these great causes. Below are some that were chosen by Dave, along with a few words about why they matter. If you are interested, or want to donate your purchase to a charity not on this list, please let us know.
Contact us directly to reserve your copy of this
extremely limited-edition box set.
Musician autographs: Dave Douglas, Donny McCaslin, Ravi Coltrane, Vijay Iyer, Tim Lefebvre, Mark Guiliana, Adam Benjamin, Linda Oh, EJ Strickland, Luis Bonilla, Vincent Chancey, Marcus Rojas, Rudy Royston, and all 4 members of So Percussion.
Festival of New Trumpet Music
A musician-run organization, FONT annually commissions, presents, and celebrates emerging artists and creative pioneers. Uniquely, FONT spans stylistic boundaries in its efforts, supporting a diverse and powerful vision of music involving this great instrument. Visit fontmusic.org to see who FONT has commissioned over the past 9 years.
Feeding America
Feeding America consists of a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks and food rescue organizations that serve virtually every county in the United States as well as Puerto Rico. It is the nation’s leading hunger-relief charity, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The organization supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 90,000 programs including pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, and Kids Cafes.
Rails to Trails Conservancy
Creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people. Imagine pedestrians taking over the entire length of America’s abandoned railways. racetotrails.org
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Preserving and managing the Appalachian Trail, the legendary 2,180 mile walking path from Georgia to Maine. appalachiantrail.org/
Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
Working to save women’s lives from this still too common disease. Research and the search for a cure. www.ovariancancer.org/
No Comments
Take 25% off all digital products, now through Sunday
Use coupon code “DIGITAL” during checkout.
Since physical orders from this week will likely not arrive in time to be stuffed into a stocking, we’re extending one final offer this year: take 25% off any of our digital products from now until Sunday. That includes all of our own brand of yuletide carols in MP3 and FLAC formats, as well as digital sheet music pieces.
Still want to give a gift? No problem. After you make your digital purchase, send us an email and let us know who you’d like to send the music to, and if you want a special holiday note to accompany the products. Inboxes and hard drives need stuffing, too.
No Comments
[AUDIO] Stream Moonshine by Key Motion Quintet
We have our ace team of engineers mixing some audio from the GPS celebration at Jazz Standard. The stream below was just too good to keep to ourselves while the others get finished. Moonshine—originally the title track on the 2006 release under Dave Douglas & Keystone—as performed by the Key Motion Quintet is now available to stream below. Subscribers can expect a high-res download of this and some other choice cuts.
Key Motion Quintet, Live at Jazz Standard 12/8/11
Dave Douglas, Donny McCaslin
Adam Benjamin, Tim Lefebvre, Mark Guiliana
3 Comments
[Gallery] Key Motion Quintet at Jazz Standard
A few pictures that came in from the Jazz Standard shows last week courtesy of Zak Shelby-Szyszko.
The Key Motion Quintet is Dave Douglas, Donny McCaslin, Adam Benjamin, Tim Lefebvre, and Mark Guiliana.
No Comments
Dave Douglas, Three Views on Fresh Air
Click below to stream the rundown of the GPS series as collected in the Three Views box set on NPR’s Fresh Air.
via npr.org
These programs are kept short, averaging about 40 minutes each, like an LP. Dave Douglas says they’re meant to recall the informal albums jazz musicians recorded in the 1950s. But these sessions don’t sound like one-day quickies, no matter how fast they came together.
