I started listening to Dave Douglas in 1999 at the urging of a friend in
Eugene, Oregon. He was busy turning me on at the time to
DJ Krush,
Yo-La Tengo and
Masada. He knew of my deep-seated
passion for improvised music in general and jazz in particular, so one day he handed me a Dave Douglas disk. It was beautiful... with a sense of humor wraped into the music and the best trumpet llines I had heard since
Bitches Brew era
Miles Davis. If you like jazz... if you like the
Jamband scene then I whole-heartedly reccomend Dave Douglas.
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Dave Douglas made his solo recording debut in 1993 with "Parallel Worlds" on the Soul Note label. Later that year he produced the
Tiny Bell Trio's self-titled first recording.
In the years since, Douglas has released fifteen CDs with eight different working ensembles. He has been named trumpeter, composer, and jazz artist of the year by such organizations as the
New York Jazz Awards,
Down Beat,
Jazz Times, and the
Italian Jazz Critics' Society.
Born March 24, 1963, in
Montclair, New Jersey, Douglas started playing piano at age five and trombone at seven before discovering the trumpet two years later. He learned jazz and classical harmony in high school and began playing improvised music as an exchange student in
Barcelona,
Spain in 1978. From 1981 to 1983, Douglas studied in Boston at the
Berklee School of Music and the
New England Conservatory; he cites
Igor Stravinsky,
John Coltrane, and
Stevie Wonder as the primary influences on his music. Moving to New York City in 1984, he attended
New York University, studying trumpet with
Carmine Caruso. From 1987 to 1990 he toured internationally with
Horace Silver and the
Bread and Puppet Theater of
Vermont.
He also maintains an important ongoing musical relationship as a member of
John Zorn's
Masada.
In early 2000, Douglas released his most recent CDs: one entitled "
Leap of Faith" as his last record on Arabesque Recordings and "
Soul on Soul: celebrating Mary Lou Williams." as his first record on
RCA Victor. "
A Thousand Evenings" the second recording with his group Charms of the Night Sky was released on RCA Victor in October 2000. His next recording will be released on RCA in September 2001 with his ensemble
Witness.
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Discography as a band leader:
(in format of DISK NAME, BAND NAME, DATE AND RECORD COMPANY)
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A Thousand Evenings -
Charms of the Night Sky 2000, RCA Victor
Soul on Soul-Celebrating Mary Lou Williams -
Sextet 2000, RCA Victor
Leap of Faith -
Quartet 2000,Arabesque Records
Songs for Wandering Souls -
Tiny Bell Trio 1999 Winter & Winter
Convergence -
Parallel Worlds - 1999 Soul Note
Charms of the Night Sky - Charms of the Night Sky 1999
Winter & Winter
Magic Triangle - Quartet 1998 Arabesque Records
Moving Portrait - Moving Portrait 1998
DIW
Stargazer -
Sextet 1997 Arabesque Records
Live in Europe - Tiny Bell Trio 1997
Arabesque Records
Sanctuary - Sanctuary 1997
Avant
Five - Parallel Worlds 1996
Soul Note
Constellations - Tiny Bell Trio 1995
Hat Art
In Our Lifetime - Sextet 1995
New World
Tiny Bell Trio - Tiny Bell Trio 1994
Songlines
Parallel Worlds - Parallel Worlds 1994 Soul Note
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discography and bio info edited from www.davedouglas.com