Amazon.com

Dave Douglas excels at many, many things. On the small, intimate themes featured on the breathtakingly delicate Charms of the Night Sky, he plays as if his horn were made of crystal. Earlier efforts such as In Our Lifetime or his work in John Zorn's Masada prove that the trumpeter is comfortable facing both wide-open solo horizons and driving, blow-the-house-down horn stomps. On Wandering Souls, however, Douglas and his Tiny Bell Trio (with Brad Shepik on guitar and Jim Black on drums) appear to be caught in the middle of a record without an easily graspable theme. Some songs wander, some roar, some skirt the Eastern European themes of Night Sky, but taken as a whole, this is an album featuring Douglas but without the clearly defined "center" of a Dave Douglas album. --S. Duda

Review

Trumpeter Dave Douglas plays open-ended, folksy jazz with his Tiny Bell Trio - Brad Shepik on electric guitar and Jim Black on drums. Pioneered by the Ornette Coleman Quartet at the end of the '50s and resuscitated for the '90s by John Zorn's Masada (of which Douglas is a member), this style isn't as simple as it looks on paper. Rejecting the urban power and professional glamour of hard bop, it requires a plaintive, vocal quality to the solos and an infectious rhythmic tilt. Masada succeeds because Zorn's compositions are so deft and prolix; the Douglas trio attempts to get by on improvisor chops - melodic gestures and spurts of exultation.

Shepik's approach owes a debt to the iconic Americana of Bill Frisell's guitarism. Unfortunately, his textures and rhythmic sense are too ordinary to transcend mere prettiness. On theme statements, Douglas has some of Don Cherry's cracked charm, but he reverts to generic jazz trumpet during his solos. Academic self-consciousness mars his unaccompanied sorties, as if he confuses obedience to the official note with expression. Throughout, poor rhythmic coordination blurs the ear-pricking intensity of creative post-Ornette trios (compare Henry Threadgill's Air, Xero Slingsby's Works, or Frisell on Gone, Just Like a Train).

The Cossack speed-metal of the final cut - "Ferrous" - is blatant encore fluff: You can see the smug Downtown grins. Bah.

--- Ben Watson, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc. -- From Jazziz

• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.4 x 4.9 inches; 3.27 ounces
• Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Winter & Winter
• Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 1999
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ February 11, 2007
• Label ‏ : ‎ Winter & Winter
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1