New Dave Douglas!

Does that mean Uri Caine is playing fender rhodes on it again? Hope so, love that sound. I sometimes think that the smaller the ensemble, the better I like DD's recs - I'm not sure what Frisell will bring to the party, esp. if he's in wistful noodling-Cooderish-Americana mode (tho' if he wants to have a go at doing a Pete Cosey, in keeping w/ The Infinite's 70s Miles vibe, then that cld be v. sweet)

Douglas is pretty prolific - most 'major' jazz stars only manage an alb every cpl of years, these days - tho' I guess he doesn't do many sideman gigs these days (when was the last time the orig Masada played together?)

Personnel: Dave Douglas, trumpet; Chris Potter, tenor sax and bass clarinet; Uri Caine, electric piano; James Genus, acoustic and electric basses; Clarence Penn, drums; Bill Frisell, guitar.

And yeah, it looks like Caine is on Rhodes, I love his Rhodes playing too.

Oh, I hope this group make it over to London. I'm still sort've ambivalent abt Chris Potter (I def. like his bass clarinet playing) and wld like to see him live to maybe make up my mind.

ArfArf, was that the Electric Masada group? Or Masada w/ Zorn, Baron, Cohen and Ribot?? I know Kenny Wollasen has sometimes filled in for Baron, but JB seems so central to their acoustic sound, I can't imagine it working nearly as well w/out him

John Zorn (sax); Marc Ribot (guitar); Jamie Saft (keyboards); Trevor Dunn (bass); Ben Perowsky (drums); Cyro Baptista (percussion

I think Ben Perowsky usually fills in Joey Baron and has some electric Masada...he is fucking awesome and I think his style is closer than Kenny Wolleson's.

I think I know what you mean about Chris Potter, for me he never sounds as focused or as interesting as with the Dave Holland Quintet.

(x-post!)

Chris Potter is hit or miss depending on the material; saw him with Bill Stewart (d) and Scott Colley (b) and they practically set Iridium on FIRE, saw him a month later with his own group snoozing their way through an Ornette tune. he's got plenty chops and knows how to use them, but this somehow doesn't keep him from playing badly on dodgy dates (those early Renee Rosnes things, say)

I listened to the first half of the new record last night before falling asleep (which wasn't the fault of the record, although the band's sound is very lush and soothing). It's amazing how both Uri Caine's and Frisell's comping is completely transparent until they want it to be, and listening to DD just makes me smile. He's SO in control.

Unfortunately not, but from what I've read, the Quintet is turning into a really tight working band for Douglas.

I've got to admit that Strange Liberation didn't catch me at first, but I keep going back to it. I think it definitely has some flaws...a lot of the solos don't really hook me, and when they're vamping around with no chords I hate that no one will repeat ANYTHING. There's no shame in a vamp/groove/motif/hook, esp. in that context.

Some of the tunes are great though, esp. Seventeen, and I really do like all of the players. I can't listen to the ballad that he says is about 9/11 because the first four notes sound like Star Wars.

I actually kind of like the really loose spaciness this gives. I think I like the soloing too. I think it's probably at least as good as Freak In (which was my #2 album of 2003) in a totally different way. My favourites are "Just Say This" and "Mountains From the Train", probably because they're the ones where Frisell is most prominent.

I am digging the Shigeto collaboration High Risk, it's got moody ambience and Herbie/Miles echoes - very nice.

damn! this is some stellar work, it is sounding better every listen.

"High Risk" and a bunch of other albums are now really cheap on his BandCamp page (DD has a BF sale each year). The quality of his output is consistently high.