Mountain Passages CD

Trumpeter, composer, and musical alchemist extraordinaire Dave Douglas crafted another fascinating album with MOUNTAIN PASSAGES. The result of a commission from the sponsors of Italy's Sound of the Dolomites Festival, this music was composed expressly for performance in the Dolomite Mountains in 2004. Performers and audience both hiked up to the festival grounds. One of the stipulations of the commission was that Douglas write music to "be played between 9,000 and 12,000 feet," and the heady, fluttering, graceful sounds herein appropriately evoke a feeling of lofty elevation.

Inspired in part by the region's local Ladino music, Douglas's compositions are by turns stately, cacophonous, elegant, complex, folksy, elegiac, and funky. The instrumentation, consisting of drums, tuba, cello, sax, clarinet, and trumpet, makes for a particularly unique blend--the ensemble sounds like a cross between an avant-garde classical group and a drunken marching band. As usual, Douglas blurs the line between post-bop and free jazz, between rigorous formal architecture and wild improvisation, touching on a wide range of tones and moods along the way. This is another stunning addition to the discography of one of the most creative and exciting artists in modern music.

Recording information: The Factory Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canad (06/26/2004).

Photographers: Dave Douglas ; Suzannah Kincannon.

Personnel: Dave Douglas (trumpet); Dave Douglas ; Peggy Lee , Peggy Lee (cello); Michael Moore (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone); Marcus Rojas (tuba); Dylan van der Schyff (drums).

Audio Mixer: Joe Ferla.

JazzTimes (p.108) - "The alchemy of instrumental sonorities is unique..."