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INSIDE THE BEAT
14 Riffs
17 Backstage With…
Kendra Shank
19 European Scene
Brass Panorama
Dave Douglas shows
off new alternative
brass band on disc,
the road and online
Dave Douglas
Brass bands have been heard for centuries, but
this format still shows off new twists. Enter
trumpeter Dave Douglas’ Brass Ecstacy,
which has just released its debut, Spirit Moves
(Greenleaf Music). His band’s sound is tied to
its distinctive lineup: The other instruments
are French horn, tuba, trombone and drums.
“In the first few years of the band I wanted to
get into this idea of alternative brass music,”
Douglas said. Referring to inspiration Lester
Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, he added, “Brass
Ecstacy is not a tribute to Lester, but is influenced
by popular music and jazz. It’s its own
thing, with original compositions.”
Initially, the Festival of New Trumpet Music
(which Douglas directs), jumpstarted the idea for
this group in 2005. Then, the music grew out of
an appearance at the 2008 Chicago Jazz Festival,
which commissioned new music from Douglas.
“It clicked with the guys,” Douglas said. “It
opened up windows where we can play freely,
with no chords, piano player or guitarist. I try to
cover harmony and melody.”
While most of the music is Douglas’, covers
on Spirit Moves include Rufus Wainwright’s
“This Love Affair,” Hank Williams’ “I’m So
Lonesome I Could Cry” and Otis Redding’s
“Mr. Pitiful.”
“I listened to it in a cab somewhere, and
never heard a horn line like that before,”
Douglas said of the Redding track.
French horn player Vincent Chancey, a veteran
of Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, said, “I always
thought of [Douglas] as an incredible composer,
so I was more than interested to play his music
and share the stage with him. He has a unique
take on brass writing like he does with everything.
His music goes places you don’t expect
and takes odd turns. But at the same time it is
musical and poignant. He has redefined the
brass quintet.”
Drummer Nasheet Waits helped shape the
sound on Spirit Moves.
“Dave is thorough,” Waits said. “He has a
specific vision that is embellished by the individuals
bringing that vision to fruition. For this project,
the instrumentation creates an uncommon
environment. The way we recorded was pleasurable.
There was no separation. This transmits an
organic feeling, one where you’re responding to
the true sound of the instrument in real time. In
most studio recordings, what you hear is filtered
through a headphone mix.”
Referring to Brass Ecstacy’s unique instrumentation,
Waits said, “Most of the groups I’ve
found myself involved with over the last 10
years or so have had piano. There has also been
a bass present. With Brass Ecstasy it’s just me
and Marcus Rojas, the tuba player, in the socalled
rhythm section. This setting provides
freedom.”
“I finally got it to sound the way I want it to
sound,” Douglas said. “I struggled with the
instrumentation for a long time, so when Vincent
came in, the French horn formed a bridge
between the trumpet and the lower instruments.
Technically, the French horn is a woodwind and
that solved it. It’s a panorama of brass.”
One of those other “lower instruments” is
played by another Bowie alum, trombonist Luis
Bonilla.
The group will tour this year—with stops at
the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, in
July and at Jazz Em Agosto in Lisbon in early
August. Audiences are offered a different view
of the band’s creative process on greenleaf
music.com.
“I am the owner of my own masters, and
my own boss at Greenleaf,” Douglas said.
“This project is self-made—the distribution,
interaction online. I can put more of myself
into the music. The artist has a message that
they can get out there.”
This includes a digitally released free video
of the group recording the album.
“We filmed the whole session,” Douglas
said. “The Internet is so interactive, with comments
on my blog, people writing in. We have
so much to learn from each other. It’s not just
that the artists put out their music and that’s the
end of it.”
—John Ephland
MARK SHELDON
June 2009 DOWNBEAT 13