The Tiny Bell Trio, one of Douglas's many concurrent projects, went on to record regularly since this 1994 debut.
Featuring Douglas on trumpet, Brad Shepik on guitar, and Jim Black on drums, the Tiny Bell Trio produces a remarkably full sound despite its sparse instrumentation.
In some sense, the lineup recalls the famous Paul Motian/Joe Lovano/Bill Frisell trio, and in fact one hears traces of Frisell in Shepik's playing, particularly on Kurt Weill's dark ballad "The Drowned Girl." However, whereas Motian's group focused for the most part on straight-ahead and free jazz, Douglas's goal here is to absorb musical influences from the Balkans and Europe.
Thus we have a traditional Hungarian "Czardas," two pieces by the Hungarian/French composer Joseph Kosma, and an "Arabesque for Clarinet and Piano" (played, of course, on trumpet, guitar, and drums) by the French classical composer Germaine Tailleferre.
In addition, Douglas contributes six original compositions, including the slow and stealthy "Road/Home," the vibrant, technically challenging "Shards," and the fractured, off-kilter "Punchy," which vaguely recalls Thelonious Monk's "Trinkle Tinkle." Shepik, for his part, pens "Felijar," one of the most moody and fascinating pieces on the disc.
As an early glimpse of Douglas's unconventional brilliance, this one is well worth checking out.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red EmmaDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 05:01 | 11 MB | 26 MB |
| 2 | PunchyDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 05:03 | 11 MB | 26 MB |
| 3 | Road/HomeDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 06:42 | 15 MB | 33 MB |
| 4 | Head-On KouvlodskoDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 05:10 | 11 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | The Drowned GirlKurt Weill | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 05:00 | 11 MB | 18 MB |
| 6 | La Belle SaisonJoseph Kosma | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 00:43 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 7 | Song for My Father-In-LawDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 05:52 | 13 MB | 26 MB |
| 8 | ShardsDave Douglas | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 9 | FelijarBrad Schoeppach | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 05:38 | 12 MB | 22 MB |
| 10 | Fille d'Acier (Girl of Steel)Joseph Kosma | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | Arabesque for Clarinet and PianoGermaine Tailleferre | Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 14 MB |
| 12 | Czardas (trad. Hungarian) | Dave Douglas | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 16 MB |
| 55 mins | 127 MB | |||||
| 55 mins | 258 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Black | Drums, Main Personnel |
| 2 | Dave Douglas | Audio Production, Composer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Producer, Trumpet |
| 3 | Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio | Primary Artist |
| 4 | Bill Emmons | Assistant Engineer |
| 5 | Joseph Kosma | Composer |
| 6 | Isabelle Meister | Photography |
| 7 | Tony Reif | Executive Producer |
| 8 | Jon Rosenberg | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 9 | Brad Schoeppach | Composer |
| 10 | Brad Shepik | Guitar, Main Personnel |
| 11 | Germaine Tailleferre | Composer |
| 12 | David Thorne | Design |
| 13 | Traditional | Composer |
| 14 | 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). |