Search - Dave Douglas :: Witness

In this harsh commercial jazz climate, it's a bit odd to see a company like RCA issuing not only one of its most uncommercial jazz CDs, but also one as outspokenly political as Dave Douglas's Witness. Leading a 10-piece ensemble, the brilliant young trumpeter pays tribute to world activists including the Palestinian-bred scholar Edward Said and exiled Bangladeshi poet Taslima Nasrin (whose words inform soprano sax great Steve Lacy's opera, The Cry). Steeped in modern classical influences, the music is rich in complexity and mood. It's also texturally alive, with Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto contributing samples to two songs and vibraphonist Bryan Carrott, electronic percussionist Ikue Mori, and tuba player Joe Daley expanding Douglas's cast of regulars (including violinist Mark Feldman and cellist Erik Friedlander). For all that, there isn't enough melodic involvement or rhythmic drive to draw you into the songs. Douglas's passion for his subjects is frequently lost in conceptual space. A 24-minute, stream-of-consciousness salute to Naguib Mahfouz, on which a half-asleep, barely audible Tom Waits intones the words of the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian novelist, is especially tough sledding. --Lloyd Sachs