Dave Douglas New Quintet
BY LARS BJORN
As
part of a nationwide tour, trumpeter Dave Douglas took his New
Quintet into Ann Arbor's Kerrytown Concert House on May 3rd. The
tour celebrates the recent release of their CD The Infinite on
RCA Bluebird. A change in personnel for the tour — Rick Margitza
replaced Chris Potter as a saxophonist — has special meaning for
us in Southeastern Michigan, since Margitza got his start in the Detroit
area. His father was a violinist with the DSO and one of his Detroit
sax mentors, Larry Nozero, was in the audience at KCH, as were family
members and friends. Margitza made us all proud, playing Douglas' challenging
music as if he had done so for years. Drummer Clarence Penn is a younger
Detroiter in the group. He has spent some time with Douglas and that
showed when the two often sparred against each other in exciting duels.
The Douglas-Penn axis was the backbone of this fine quintet.
The New Quintet can superficially be described as
a version of Miles Davis' 1960s Quintet, as distinct from Douglas' string
ensemble, world music trio, and electric groups (to mention just a few
of Douglas' on-going projects). Douglas is not simply eclectic: each
one of his groups is centered around his musical vision and his masterful
trumpet playing and the New Quintet is one of the most successful of
his projects. When compared to those of another impressive trumpeter-band
leader, Wynton Marsalis, one can see how much more adventurous Douglas
is. When one listens to Marsalis, one does not get a sense that much
has happened in jazz since the 1960s, whereas Douglas is an active participant
in the avant garde tradition as it has taken shape in the downtown New
York scene.
Douglas was able to stretch out in several wonderful
solos during the second set. He was much helped by a sympathetic rhythm
section. Uri Caine played the Fender Rhodes as well as it can be played,
and bassist James Genus was solid as a rock. Clarence Penn was a joy
to see as he and Genus built up the rhythmic tension behind Douglas'
energetic horn. It is not a put-down to compare him to Tony Williams,
who played such a central role in Davis' 1960s quintet. Few drummers
have come close to Williams' heights of rhythmic sophistication, combining
freedom and complexity with swing. This was a delightful concert and
I recommend jazz fans of all stripes to come out for Douglas' next project.
photograph by Lars Bjorn
