Douglas, Dave (actually, David Dewel)

Douglas, Dave (actually, David Dewel), jazz/world-music trumpeter, composer; b. East Orange, N.J., March 24, 1963. He is an innovative musician often featured at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan with a variety of groups. As a youth he was exposed to many different types of music. He began playing improvised music while attending a year abroad in Barcelona, Spain, as part of a special program offered through his high school. He went on to study composition and performance in Boston for two years at the Berklee Coll. of Music and the New England Cons. Moving to N.Y in 1984, he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at N.Y.U,’s Gallatin Division; also during this time he performed in the streets of N.Y.C. with other young musicians. His education continued on the bandstand with Horace Silver’s ensemble, touring internationally for three months in 1987. His experiences with Eastern European music began in the late 1980s in an experimental Dance/Music/Theater group in Switzerland, which was using Romanian folk music as the basis of a show. He began transcribing tapes of various different traditional music from that part of the world. In 1990 he began playing klezmer music with Don Byron, and soon began writing his own music in these various traditions. He has recorded tribute albums to Booker Little, Wayne Shorter, and Joni Mitchell. He is perhaps best known as a member of John Zorn’s Masada. He also appears on recordings by pianists Myra Melford, Uri Caine, Steve Beresford, Fred Hersch; bassists Michael Formanek, Mark Dresser, Greg Cohen, Mario Pavone, and John Lindberg; clarinetists Don Byron, Ned Rothenberg, and Françoise Houle, and saxophonist Larry Ochs. He has repeatedly appeared in the Down Beat Critics’ Poll as TDWR (Talent Deserving Wider Recognition). He leads his String Group with Mark Feldman (violin), Erik Friedlander (cello), Drew Gress (bass), and Michael Sarin (drums); a group called Sanctuary; one called Charms of the Night Sky; and the Tiny Bell Trio. He plays in the group Satya with Myra Melford on harmonium, Samir Chatterjee (or Badal Roy) on tabla, and Sanghamitra Chatterjee (tamboura and voice); they played at the Jazz Yatra Festival in Bombay in 1998, and planned more concerts for 1999. He also briefly worked in the Naguib Mahfousz (named after the writer) electronic music project (with Ikue Mori—sampler, Jamie Saft—keyboards, Kenny Wolleson—drums). His “In Twilight Found," a concerto for improvising trio (trumpet, cello, drums) and orchestra, was completed in August 1996. As yet, no premiere has been scheduled. His Tiny Bell Trio went on a three-week tour of Europe in April-May 1999. On June 14, 1999 he received four awards at the Jazz Awards in N.Y.

Discography

Parallel Worlds (1993); In Our Lifetime (1994); Five (1995); Sanctuary (1997); Stargazer (1997); Moving Portrait (1998); Charms of the Night Sky (1998); Magic Triangle (1998); Convergence (1999); Live at Birdland (1999); Soul on Soul (2000); Leap of Faith (2000).

—Lewis Porter