On Four Freedoms, acclaimed trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas convenes a remarkable new quartet featuring Marta Warelis (piano), Nick Dunston (bass) and Joey Baron (drums). Releasing January 30^th, 2026, on Greenleaf Music.

With over 60 albums as a leader, Dave Douglas continues to expand the language of creative music.

Here, he channels President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 “Four Freedoms” speech – freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear – into a compelling new musical project. The ensemble is an analogy for a functioning society, with four distinct voices coexisting, conversing, and creating through improvisation.

“I wrote this music for my dear friends Marta, Nick, and Joey. The compositions are personalized to them, how they play, and how they approach freedom in improvisation. We open up these tunes in new and unimagined ways on every gig.” – Dave Douglas

This is a cross-continental group, with Warelis, Baron, and Dunston based in Europe, and Douglas based in New York. Despite the distances between them, the ensemble presents a united front, bringing freshness and new energy to every performance. Of course, Douglas and Baron are a longstanding duo, the cornerstone of several projects including Sound Prints with Joe Lovano, and as long time members of John Zorn’s Masada. Their work together on the 2021 album Other Worlds was heralded as “album-of-the-year material” by Jazz Journal. Douglas and Dunston have also collaborated extensively, including on albums like Douglas’s ENGAGE. Warelis and Douglas have toured extensively through Europe, and recorded Secular Psalms in 2022, deemed “a major and important work” by LondonJazz News.

Four Freedoms was recorded during the Getxo Festival in the Basque Country of Spain, in July 2025. The group recorded a live concert, then reconvened the next day on the same stage to capture focused, intimate versions of the music without an audience. “It makes Four Freedoms a hybrid record,” says Douglas. “I wanted to capture both the excitement of a live performance, and the focus and intensity of a studio session… Never made a record quite this way before.”

Among the highlights, the first single “Sandhog” is a grooving jaunt inspired by the workers who built New York tunnels, the hidden labor behind the city’s foundations and great landmarks such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the city’s subway systems. With bassist Dunston representing the perseverance of these heroes, he provides the subterranean bedrock to the tune, along with the insistent pulse of Baron’s rhythms. Pianist Warelis surges through with intrepid energy, with Douglas providing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The title piece “Four Freedoms” showcases the full range of Warelis’ prepared (inside the) piano work. The Polish pianist transforms the piano into a playground of sonic invention, exploring otherworldly timbres and childlike melodies. Dunston’s eerie bow work melds with Douglas’ muted trumpet and Baron’s cascading percussion. The piece is guided by a graphic score that unlocks the quartet allowing each member to go their own way, and pursue their own freedoms.

“Grits,” is a joyous rhythmic feature for drummer Joey Baron. The final piece from the concert, but opening track on the album, it follows a 32 bar rhythm changes form with a tag, turning structure into play. Baron leads the melody from behind the kit, Dunston provides propelling walking basslines and Warelis interjects playfully while Douglas glues the conversation together.

Douglas reflects, “The quartet is a very special context for me, and I’m inspired by each of these players. I’m thrilled that we captured the music in this way. Playing with this group is literally a blast.”

This album joins the vast catalog of Douglas’ own Greenleaf Music label. Now celebrating its 20^th anniversary, Greenleaf Music has released over 100 albums, supporting the creation of great creative new music.

In a time of chaos and uncertainty, Dave Douglas’ Four Freedoms stands as a meditation on interdependence, resilience, and imagination – a reminder that freedom, like improvisation, is something we must continually practice together.

Track Listing:

1. Grits (For Joey) 4:36
2. Dream We Hold 5:54
3. Sandhog 7:00
4. Four Freedoms 4:54
5. Militias 6:20
6. Fire in the Firewood (For Nick) 6:05
7. Sing Sing 5:01
8. My First Rodeo 5:40
9. Ruminants (For Marta) 8:55

Personnel:

Dave Douglas, trumpet
Marta Warelis, piano
Nick Dunston, bass
Joey Baron, drums

Production Credits:

All compositions by Dave Douglas, Dave Douglas Music, Inc., BMI

Production Credits:
Producer: Dave Douglas
Executive Producer: Dave Douglas

Recorded by Beñat Barrondo at Getxo Kultura Jazz Festival
Recorded live on July 6, 2025, and on the same stage, without an audience, on July 7, 2025
At Muxikebarri in Getxo, Basque Country, Spain
Mixed and mastered by Tyler McDiarmid, New York

Photography: Cesar Merino
Design: Lukas Frei

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