Dave Douglas & Vacation Blues

[relyles]

On Saturday night I attended the Dave Douglas & Vacation Blues concert in Hartford. I went to the concert not really knowing what to expect. Recently I have somewhat cooled to Dave Douglas as a trumpet player. I loved his sextet recordings, but the more I hear of his trumpet playing the less spectacular it appears to me. I don’t mean that to sound as a criticism. It’s just that in the past couple of years my exposure to many more musicians has revealed quite a few trumpeters who I prefer. Douglas has some great groups, but I think the impact of the groups is more a reflection of the writing and the assemblage of talent as opposed to being overwhelmed by Douglas as a trumpeter.

Anyway, I was still looking forward to the concert and it was a very pleasant experience. The group includes Roswell Rudd on trombone, Brad Jones on bass and drummer Barry Altschul. I think this is a new group that Douglas recently put together. They played a couple of Douglas, compositions, a couple of Rudd compositions and a few Herbie Nichols compositions, including the composition from which the band gets its name. Rudd and Douglas worked very well together. I was impressed as much with how they interacted and played off each other as with any individual solos. Rudd, however, was clearly the star of the show. He gets a wide range of sounds from his trombone and is extremely expressive. I think what impressed me most about Rudd was the sheer joy of playing that is evident. Unlike a lot of these overly serious guys making complicated music just to be hip; Rudd just had a lot of fun. He has monster technique – yes, but he used his technique in a way that engaged the audience as opposed to keeping us on the outside. Jones and Altschul worked very well together, with Jones getting quite a few impressive solo opportunities.

Nice set and if this group is going to continue performing together I recommend you check them out.

[mike casinghino]

i was also at the concert,and thought it was an excellent performance. i agree with you that roswell rudd was the star of the show.

so far two excellent shows, douglas & hill, looking forward to the last one, greg osby in june.