Combo marches to the beat of no drummer.Byline: FRED CRAFTS The Register-Guard Dave Douglas' band Charms of the Night Sky has an unorthodox instrumental lineup: trumpet, violin, bass and accordion. "It's different," Douglas said by telephone from his studio in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , "but I try to make every day different, so, in that sense, it's the same, if you know what I mean." An innovator whose appetite knows no bounds, the 38-year-old Douglas has built a lofty reputation by exploring new territory. He has released 15 CDs with eight different ensembles. Other groups are in the works. All this activity has gained Douglas honors as trumpeter, composer and jazz artist of the year from the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Jazz Awards, the Italian Jazz Italian jazz. James Reese Europe’s military concerts in France in World War I in 1919 are claimed to have introduced Europeans to a new, "syncopated" music from America. Critics Society and Down Beat, Jazz Times and Jazziz magazines. The group Charms of the Night Sky (it takes its name from its CD) consists of Guy Klucevsek Guy Klucevsek (born February 26, 1947) is an American-born accordionist and composer. Klucevsek is one of relatively few accordion players active in jazz and free improvisation. , accordion; Mark Feldman, violin; Greg Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , bass, and Douglas. The ensemble sprang into Douglas' mind several years ago when he attended Klucevsek's solo concert and was struck by the possibilities of assembling an extremely unusual combination of instruments - without a drummer. "In jazz music, we tend to rely on the drummer to fill things in and make the time flow along," Douglas said. "If you're a soloist who's improvising, having a drummer there taking care of the nitty-gritty of how the time is going to flow is essential. You take away the drummer, and all of sudden everyone in the group has a much larger responsibility for making the time flow." The violin-trumpet-accordion- bass configuration, combined with the type of music it plays, produces a sound that Douglas admits resembles "Romanian music, or klezmer klezmer (klĕz`mər), form of instrumental folk music developed in the Eastern European Jewish community. The style had its beginnings in the Middle Ages; its name is a Yiddishized version of the Hebrew klei zemir , or tango." "All those associations are there. But I think there's a whole lot more there than just that," he said. "We've been able to get into some really interesting and subtle fluctuations of time, dynamics, volume and shading of tone. `It's very lyrical and beautiful, but it also contains a lot of surprises along the way." Douglas believes the group "challenges what a lot of people think about the typical jazz group, in that the instrumentation is so different, but also that we're improvising in ways that are not always traditional to jazz." Which is not surprising, given Douglas' background. He studied in Boston at the Berklee School of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music New England Conservatory of Music, at Boston, Mass.; coeducational; est. 1867, chartered and opened 1870. It is closely associated with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. , then went to New York University New York University, mainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining 4 main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the . From 1987 to 1990, he toured with Horace Silver, Vincent Herring, Dr. Nerve, and the Bread and Puppet Theatre. An in-demand player, Douglas also has performed with John Zorn's Massada, Myra Melford, Anthony Braxton, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Cibo Matto, Sean Lennon, Fred Hersch, Mark Dresser and Tim Berne. As a composer, he writes not only for his ensembles (Charms of the Night Sky, the Tiny Bell Trio, Parallel Worlds, Sanctuary, Quartet, New Quintet, Sextet and Witness), but also has drawn composing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Independent agency of the U.S. government that supports the creation, dissemination, and performance of the arts. It was created by the U.S. , Meet the Composer Meet the Composer is an American organization founded in 1974 by the composer John Duffy as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to assist composers in making a living through writing music by sponsoring commissioning, residency, education, and audience , the Mary Flager Cary Charitable Trust The arrangement by which real or Personal Property given by one person is held by another to be used for the benefit of a class of persons or the general public. and Arts International. He is writing an orchestral piece, "The Arc Line," for the Cologne Radio Symphony. Gunther Schuller will conduct the first performance on April 27. After he plays the Oregon Festival of American Music's new Now Hear This series on Monday, Douglas will return home briefly. On Feb. 19, he will embark on a Scandinavian and European tour with the Misha Mengelberg Quartet, then begin a North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. tour with his New Quintet (its new CD, "The Infinite," is due to be released on March 19). That tour will run through May 26, including performances with the Trisha Brown Dance Company. How did all this eclecticism eclecticism, in art eclecticism (ĭklĕk`tĭsĭz'əm), art style in which features are borrowed from various styles. develop? Douglas said one thing simply led to another. "Like most jazz players, I grew up listening to Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis and wanting to play with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and basically have a gig, be a sideman side·man n. A member of a jazz band who is not the leader or a featured soloist. , just be a trumpet player. "As my composing side began to take over, I found I was more interested in finding new ways of using all that language and vocabulary by not only looking at other kinds of music, but also looking at the way we think about how improvising works and how the composer invites the improviser into a piece." As a result, Douglas has led many different ensembles and tried lots of different things. "For me, variety is the spice of life," he said. `What invigorates me is to have a lot of projects that run parallel and concurrent. Then I can come and go from one thing to the other, reinvestigate things, come back, make changes. It's fascinating. "I try to be influenced by something new every day. But I think my will to be as broad as possible and as open-minded as possible comes from Miles Davis - someone who changed very, very frequently throughout his career and in each new phase perfected a way of looking at this music that's really inspired me." Three others who have influenced Douglas are jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, classical composer Igor Stravinsky and pop innovator Stevie Wonder. "All of them also led a path of change while presenting a music of deep integrity and honesty," he said. Similarly, Douglas' own interests lie, as Duke Ellington once said, in music beyond category. "Music, regardless of genre, speaks to the human spirit," he said. `When music communicates on that level, you forget your ideas of categories and further verbal extrapolations. "But you'd be surprised at how many boundaries there are. A lot of the boundaries we have to overcome are expectations and assumptions about the music and the world. `I'm just trying to learn more and to continue to grow and play music." Arts reporter Fred Crafts can be reached by phone at 338-2575 and by e-mail at fcrafts@guardnet.com. DAVE DOUGLAS' CHARMS OF THE NIGHT SKY WHAT: Award-winning jazz trumpeter plays with a violin-accordion-bass combo WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday WHERE: Beall Concert Hall, University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. Music School, 961 E. 18th Ave. HOW MUCH: $14.50, $16.50 and $18.50 through the Oregon Festival of American Music Oregon Festival of American Music is an eclectic, thematically-based two-week summer music festival that has been held annually in Eugene, Oregon since 1992. Produced by The John G. box office, 687-6526, and at the door CAPTION(S): Dave Douglas is known for his innovative approach to music. Trumpeting a new sound |
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