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Dave Douglas, Leap of Faith (64:26); AJ0145, 2000
Arabesque Recordings
32 West 39th Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-730-5000
Cyberhome: www.arabesquerecords.com


Negotiating the space between tonal composition and 
anything-can-happen improvisation, Dave Douglas's "straightahead" 
quartet continues to develop its original, identifiable sound. Only 
one of the trumpeter's many projects, this group released Magic 
Triangle (Arabesque) in 1998, and they've followed it up with 
something similar but better. Loose, natural interplay is the name of 
the game here, and Leap of Faith finds the quartet even more 
loose and natural than last time around. Douglas's writing also seems 
more varied and inventive.
	Douglas has found a perfect partner in tenor saxophonist 
Chris Potter. Their precise-yet-unforced interplay recalls legendary 
frontlines like Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham, or Ornette Coleman 
and Don Cherry. Douglas has a way with wry, enigmatic two-part 
harmonies, which Potter interprets masterfully. Timbral variations 
are also a key component of Douglas's compositional repertoire - dig 
the central motif of "Continental Divide," the final note of 
"Emmenthaler," the pregnant pauses during "Western Haiku." Bassist 
James Genus and drummer Ben Perowsky frame the two-horn attack 
brilliantly, swinging furiously on "Leap of Faith," "Igneous," and 
"Euro Disney," or floating subtly around the edges of "Another 
Country." Perowsky's drum-n-bass-inspired groove on "Millennium Bug" 
is one of the album's top highlights, and not the first time the 
drummer has pushed jazz into the mad phat zone: take a listen to 
"Janitor" from last year's Ben Perowsky Trio (Jazz Key 
Records).
	Douglas's debt to the tradition is clear: he begins Magic 
Triangle quoting "C Jam Blues" and ends Leap of Faith with 
the famous closing phrase of "The Theme." But this is anything but a 
bebop recital. There's no comping instrument, giving the music a 
spare, harmonically ambiguous flavor. Tempos are established and just 
as soon abandoned, interrupted by montage-like ensemble passages or 
melodic fragments. Douglas and Potter take turns soloing, with one 
often playing background lines to support the other. But suddenly a 
background line might break out and become the dominant voice. 
Hearing these performances live, an audience would not quite know 
when to applaud. And that seems to be Douglas's intention: to upend 
the conventional, almost ritualized aspects of jazz performance, even 
while building upon the best of what the tradition has to offer.
~David R. Adler, 2/15/00

Tracks:
1. Caterwaul
2. Leap of Faith
3. Another Country
4. Millennium Bug
5. Emmenthaler
6. Mistaken Identity
7. Guido's High Note
8. Continental Divide
9. Igneous
10. Western Haiku
11. Euro Disney

Personnel:
Dave Douglas, trumpet;
Chris Potter, tenor saxophone;
James Genus, bass;
Ben Perowsky, drums 

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