Dave Douglas has long been socially conscious and it’s long informed his music. For this 2020 project Marching Music, the highly regarded trumpet player and composer wanted to make a sort of call to action to march and demonstrate against inequities. It’s easy to think of this as being inspired by the Floyd and Taylor deaths of this past spring but Marching Music was actually recorded in December of 2019. Whether by insight or by luck, this album’s time is certainly now.
Regardless, Douglas knew he’d need to assemble a new band around his theme, and he put together the right one in Melvin Gibbs (electric bass), Sim Cain (drums) and Rafiq Bhatia (guitar), the latter a veteran of alt-rockers Son Lux and the former two part of the Rollins Band. With the Rollins Band rhythm section in tow, Marching Music is the closest you’ll hear Douglas come to those funk-metal cult favorites but don’t expect anyone yelling “I’m a liar” for these songs. Instead, Douglas is able to harness their no-nonsense propulsion and the anger simmering just beneath the surface. If anything, Marching Music shares more traits with one of Gibbs’s current ventures, Harriett Tubman.
Many of these songs balances rage and frustration with hope and reflection. Douglas’ pure trumpet tone is such a contrast to the stomp of the drums and the thrumming bass on “Parables” but that trumpet also articulates the message of a call to action and Bhatia follows those cues in articulating his solo. Gibbs and Cain set down a certain tension on “Ten To Midnight” while Bhatia and Douglas add contemplation. Some spectral expressions from Bhatia’s guitar launch the inhibited “Safe Space” and Douglas’ inward-looking expressions on muted trumpet takes it from there until Bhatia returns with a deeper manifestation of his opening thought.
“Whose Streets” shows that even within a rock context, Douglas can construct melodies with the nuance of jazz and Bhatia’s aside is tasty and full of discreet sentiment. Douglas’s chops are just fine on “Fair Fight” but later on, Gibbs makes some filthy bass remarks for his own feature. The tension on “Foley Square” flows out from the rhythm section and ultimately attains release from Douglas and then Bhatia.
The heaviest track is saved for last: “Persistent Hats,” with thundering drums and a heaping helping of fuzz and feedback emanating from both guitars.
The idea of using jazz as a conduit for activism is nothing new to Dave Douglas; he made an overt call to action album just two years prior. But Douglas never stops looking for new ways of getting his message out, and Marching Music is music with a purpose that also widens Douglas’ already expansive palette.
Marching Music is now available from Douglas’ Greenleaf imprint and for sale on Bandcamp.
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