Dave Douglas back with "The Infinite" line up

It's almost wearying how much good music Dave Douglas makes. Nice to hear that, though.

I never got around to checking out Freak In, as much as I like Dave Douglas, the thought of another jazz horn player making his album of studio effects and grooves was kind of tiring.

The Infinite was great though, I have to go home and put that on again tonight. I would love another record with that lineup...Clarence Penn's albums as a leader are worth checking out, btw.

(I heart ILM during its jazz phases)

Jordan I know exactly what you mean, I had the same thoughts. I only got "Freak In" because I had already got a ticket to see the band, before I realised it wouldn't be acoustic. But the album is a lot better than it looks on paper and definitely worth a listen, even though my initial (extreme) enthusiasm has shaded off a bit.

All the same I'm pleased he's back with the "Infinite" band. I'll probably go to hear them again later this week at the North Sea Jazz festival so I'll get another chance to check if they really are as good as first impressions suggest.

Yay! Uri Caine playing the Fender Rhodes = sublime. Def. prefer 'The Infinite' to 'Freak In' - the latter just seems too busy/crowded, and it's one of those curious albs that starts really poorly but then gets (much) better as it goes on. I admire/appreciate DD's to constantly keep on the move, try new things w/ new line-ups, but I think it wld be great if he kept the Infinte group together for a while - they cld be one of the all-time great jazz units.

Caine played Rhodes throughout, Andrew.

I agree re band, as I say I saw them 2 years ago and thought they were good but not as remarkable as they sound now. For players of that quality the absence of ego was remarkable, everything was subordinated to the overall concept and solos beautifully structured. Rhythm section was astonishing. Only line-up change is Seamus Blake for Chris Potter, SB was new to me but I loved his playing and a great foil for DD.

Have you heard Caine's Bedrock 3 album, Andrew? It's his electric trio where he's on Rhodes all the time, lots of dn'b stuff. There are a couple bits that don't jibe with me conceptually, but when it hits it hits and it has a great sense of humor.

Yeah, I have heard that Bedrock alb Jordan, and actually went to see them live a cpl of months ago. The gig was a bit of a letdown, to be honest - Zach Danzinger is an incredible drummer, but he too often TOTALLY overwhelmed the sound of the keyboard, and they also had a DJ w/ 'em who insisted on filling every spare moment w/ a kitsch scratch or sample.

Interesting, that's too bad. I don't how like how on the record Uri is filling up the music with all these fast runs against the fast dn'b beats, like he was playing bop. It makes everything sound busy and rushed. There's one tune where he plays texture and melody and they totally nail the Photek sound, but it was like he said, "okay, did that, now I can solo for the rest of the record." I can't wait until Jo Jo Mayer's Nerve comes out with a record.

I've heard Uri Caine live several times, including solo piano recitals, with Bedrock a couple of times and doing his Mahler thing. There are always flashes of brilliance but only one that wasn't mildly disappointing overall (apart from the times I've seen him with DD) was the Mahler, which really was terrific. I think he's a musician with almost too much facility and he tends to stray into a lush "play everthing" self-indulgence if he's allowed to. He my preference for him as a sideman where he has to be more disciplined.

I've never heard any of his records though - I must track down the Mahler sometime, though as ever I'm trying to control my disease of buying records much faster than I can listen to them.

the live mahler one is good, I guess, certainly interesting. it's kind of an overwhelming mess.

for some reason I bought 'freak in' on a whim right when it came out. I didn't even make it through the first track (I went back a few months later and tried again - it got better farther in, but I still wasn't excited to listen to it). this was not totally because of what I heard, but it was partly. it also struck me right then as very distasteful that douglas had made an 'electric' record, and there it goes right at the beginning with wicky-wicky guitars and tablas and stuff - can't jazz come up with anything fresh? I didn't like feeling this way at all. as if there's just a big collection of historical stuff that musicians have to 'do' in order to cover all the bases. I know it's probably a matter of 'exploring' different styles etc. for the musicians themselves, but still...

I'm a jazz know-nothing, but I've seen Dave Douglas a couple times -- once with this line-up and once with the Charms of the Night Sky group -- and was pretty mesmerized. What are the essential DD albums?

i like 'a thousand evenings' (charms of the night sky group) and 'songs for wandering souls' (tiny bell trio), but I like them both reservedly.

The Tiny Bell Trio albums are probably his most unique/craziest albums, I haven't heard enough to say which is the best though.

I like Leap of Faith a lot, it's his quartet with Chris Potter, James Genus, and one of my faves Ben Perowsky. Kind of an Ornette-ish group, it sounds like a jazz quartet but with interesting tunes and a real sense of possibility.

one of my reservations: all of the slow and/or quiet stuff seems fine (in the sense of 'exemplary'). it's the faster stuff that gives me the reservations.