To hear many hard bop hard-liners tell it, all avant-garde jazz is nothing more than atonal screaming.
The problem with such sweeping generalizations is that some avant-garde jazz is, in fact, quite musical.
A perfect example is Dave Douglas' Convergence, an experimental, adventurous outing that incorporates everything from classical and chamber music to Jewish, Middle Eastern, and East European music.
Joined by violinist Mark Feldman, cellist Erik Friedlander, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Michael Sarin, the New York-based trumpeter doesn't shy away from the eccentric and the unorthodox, but he also provides his share of discernible, substantial melodies.
The inside/outside approach works impressively well on pieces ranging from Douglas' "Goodbye Tony" (a passionate ode to the late drummer Tony Williams), his Miles Davis-influenced "Tzotzil Maya," and his probing "Meeting at Infinity" to the traditional Burmese song "Chit Kyoo Thwe Tog Nyin Hmar Lar" (to which he brings a strong Jewish element).
You can hear a variety of influences in Douglas' playing -- everyone from Lester Bowie and Don Cherry to Miles Davis and Booker Little -- but Convergence leaves no doubt that he is very much an original himself.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe's Auto GlassDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas String Group | Play | 06:32 | 14 MB | 39 MB |
| 2 | Tzotzil MayaDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas String Group | Play | 07:47 | 17 MB | 41 MB |
| 3 | Meeting at InfinityDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas String Group | Play | 15:50 | 36 MB | 85 MB |
| 4 | Collateral DamagesDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas String Group | Play | 06:59 | 15 MB | 39 MB |
| 5 | Goodbye TonyDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas String Group | Play | 13:40 | 31 MB | 73 MB |
| 6 | Nothing Like YouBob Dorough, Fran Landesman | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas String Group | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 7 | Chit Kyoo Thwe Tog Nyin Hmar Lar | Dave Douglas | Play | 01:18 | 2 MB | 7 MB |
| 8 | Desseins Eternels | Dave Douglas | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 9 | Bilbao Song | Dave Douglas | Play | 08:32 | 19 MB | 43 MB |
| 10 | Border Songs_ The Story | Dave Douglas | Play | 00:29 | 1 MB | 1 MB |
| 11 | Border Songs_ The Elaboration | Dave Douglas | Play | 00:54 | 2 MB | 4 MB |
| 12 | Border Songs_ The Exaggeration | Dave Douglas | Play | 00:40 | 1 MB | 3 MB |
| 13 | Border Songs_ Apocrypha | Dave Douglas | Play | 00:41 | 1 MB | 3 MB |
| 71 mins | 164 MB | |||||
| 71 mins | 389 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bertolt Brecht | Composer |
| 2 | Bob Dorough | Composer |
| 3 | Dave Douglas | Composer, Primary Artist, Trumpet |
| 4 | Dave Douglas String Group | Primary Artist |
| 5 | Mark Feldman | Guest Artist, Violin |
| 6 | Erik Friedlander | Cello, Guest Artist |
| 7 | Drew Gress | Bass (Upright), Guest Artist |
| 8 | Fran Landesman | Composer |
| 9 | Olivier Messiaen | Composer |
| 10 | Michael Sarin | Drums |
| 11 | Traditional | Composer |
| 12 | Kurt Weill | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |