Douglas, Dave & Brass Ecstasy

Spirit Moves

Label: Greenleaf Music Country: USA

"With his post-Milesian quintet now in its eighth year and his electronica-informed Keystone group in its fourth, anyone familiar with trumpeter Dave Douglas knows that it's about time for something different. With a line-up that puts a new twist on an old concept, Spirit Moves is Douglas at his funnest. With nothing but horns and drums, it's a clear nod to the New Orleans brass band tradition, but featuring trumpet, trombone, French Horn and tuba, it possesses its own complexion and style.

With concise charts, compelling soloing and plenty of exhilarating interaction, Spirit Moves is a party album with a difference. There's plenty of groove to be found courtesy of drummer Nasheet Waits, although tubaist Marcus Rojas-back from Douglas' more overtly experimental Mountain Passages (Greenleaf, 2005)-shares equal responsibility in creating music as good for the feet as it is for the head...and the heart. As rich a sound as these four horns create-rarely brash, other than the occasional leap into the stratosphere by Douglas-it's almost always in the context of an engaging rhythm, whether it's the greasy Second Line of "This Love Affair," the visceral funk of "Orujo," the brush-driven balladry of "Twilight of the Dogs," or the up-tempo soul of Otis Redding/Steve Cropper's "Mr. Pitiful," one of two covers on this set of largely original compositions from Douglas.

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