Dave Douglas Bow River Falls CD

Personnel: Dave Douglas (trumpet); Dave Douglas ; Peggy Lee , Peggy Lee (cello); Louis Sclavis (clarinet, bass clarinet); Dylan van der Schyff (drums).
Audio Mixer: John Sorenson.
Liner Note Author: Dave Douglas .
Recording information: Banff Center for the Arts, Banff, Alberta, Canada (06/2003).
Recorded during Dave Douglas' residence as director of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music in Banff, Alberta, Bow River Falls finds the trumpeter among an intimate small group of his faculty peers, including clarinetist Louis Sclavis, cellist Peggy Lee, and drummer/laptop musician Dylan van der Schyff. Clearly inspired by the epic natural beauty of Banff, Douglas and his fellow musicians create atmospheric and organic pieces that reference '60s free jazz and contemporary classical chamber music. While Douglas' burnished trumpet sigh is the focal point, this is truly a group effort that often calls to mind iconic efforts by Ornette Coleman and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. To these ends, cuts like "Dark Water" and the title track find Sclavis and Douglas utilizing their instruments in unconventional ways, summoning growls, bleeps, and pinched squelches. Similarly, Lee's cello fluctuates between darkly sonorous long tones and high-pitched whines. The laptop inclusions of van der Schyff were done live in the studio and have an organic quality, blending gurgling white noise, static, and other visceral found sounds with his sensitive percussion interplay. Bow River Falls is a highly rewarding listen and ranks with the best of Douglas' recordings. ~ Matt Collar
A true collaborative effort, BOW RIVER FALLS features playing, composing, and arranging by trumpeter Dave Douglas, clarinetist Louis Sclavis, cellist Peggy Lee, and drummer/programmer Dylan Van Der Schyff. Recorded during Douglas's residence at the Banff Jazz Workshop in Alberta, Canada (where the other musicians were guest faculty), the session was cut in an afternoon with minimal rehearsal, so a feeling of spontaneity prevails. The music, atmospheric and free, is full of vigorous instrumental interplay and expressionist gestures.
The opener, Steve Lacy's "Blinks," has a bop-influenced head that gives way to a chorus of anthropomorphic squeals and bleeps. This pattern is seen elsewhere--melodic fragments intertwine with open, spacious structures, punctuated by free, interactive playing. Lee's cello contributes to the chamber-music ambience, especially on darker, dramatic numbers ("Retracing 2"), while Van Der Schyff's laptop contributions (on "Window" and "Dark Water," in particular) organically blend sampled sounds with his own drumming. Like many of Douglas's recordings, BOW RIVER FALLS draws from the past (the clearest reference here is late-'60s free jazz), while sounding utterly contemporary (the glitchy, sampled backdrop might classify some tracks as electronica or post-rock). Like most of Douglas's releases, this one is excellent all around.Down Beat (p.76) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Douglas' jazz usage is more insinuating and Lee's bucolic lyricism takes on an intriguing forlorn quality."
JazzTimes (p.103) - "Lee's music focuses on texture and serves as atmospheric interludes between Sclavis' and Douglas' playful, melodic music..."