ENGAGE - 2019 SUBSCRIBER SERIES | Greenleaf Music by Dave Douglas

ENGAGE - 2019 Subscriber Series

Optimism. Action. Community.

Featuring twelve compositions by Dave Douglas with an ensemble featuring Anna Webber, Tomeka Reid, Jeff Parker, Nick Dunston and Kate Gentile,

Plus special guest trumpeters Dave Adewumi and Riley Mulherkar

Join us as a subscriber to gain access to this unique material and more.

Purchase a CD on Bandcamp here.

Dave Douglas has been feeling inspired. Inspired by his musical community. Inspired by the activism he sees around him. Inspired to take action for issues he feels strongly about. In his 2019 Subscriber Series project, ENGAGE, the trumpeter, composer, Greenleaf Music founder and community organizer sought to keep the momentum of the 2018 midterm elections going. Douglas, whose recorded oeuvre spans the last 30 years with over 50 recordings as a leader, recorded a program of brand new compositions as reactions and ruminations on the hope generated in 2018. Voters rejected of a politics of racism, fear-mongering, environmental deregulation and degradation and chaos. It was time to drown out the toxicity of the Trump presidency with beautiful music meant to engage all who cared to hear.

“We’re digging into that optimism musically in these pieces,” Douglas notes. “The compositional rule was simply to build all the songs out of major triads.” Each of the twelve pieces in this “song-cycle” approaches these triads in a different way. Douglas sought out specific improvisers and collaborators from different generations and backgrounds to deal with music that inspires, challenges and stirs to action. The songs were specifically built for this collaborative and dynamic ensemble including Anna Webber (alto and bass flutes, tenor sax), Tomeka Reid (cello), Jeff Parker (guitar), Nick Dunston (bass), and Kate Gentile (drums). On some of the pieces, the ensemble is joined by trumpeters Dave Adewumi and Riley Mulherkar.

As Douglas stated in the initial rollout of the project “ENGAGE is a direct descendant of UPLIFT, the 2018 set of compositions dedicated to positive action. We will be following up with all the organizations and causes invoked in that piece and engaged in community and activism. People showed up in 2018, and our hope is that this trend will continue. My hope is that everyone, in every field, will be involved and engaged in this work. Writing and performing these pieces is a reminder to myself not to get mired in negativity — to stay positive and engaged through music daily.”

The ensemble came together for a debut performance at Zürcher Gallery in December 2018. Throughout 2019, these tracks, recorded in December 2018, were released exclusively to Greenleaf Music subscribers via Bandcamp. Now the entire series becomes available on CD for all listeners to find their own way to ENGAGE.

ENGAGE is being released on the Greenleaf Subscription Series, a model started by the label in 2005 to host recordings and extras exclusive to subscribers. The subscription model is a novel approach that supports all the label artists and helps sustain further productions. ENGAGE is the first of these projects to be made available as an individual title on CD.

Please purchase a CD and join us as a subscriber to gain access to this unique material and more.

Personnel:
Dave Douglas, trumpet
Jeff Parker, guitar
Tomeka Reid, cello
Anna Webber, alto and bass flutes and tenor saxophone
Nick Dunston, bass
Kate Gentile, drums

Production Credits:
Recorded at Recorded on December 3, 2018 at The Bunker Studios, Brooklyn, NY.
Recorded, mixed, and Mastered by Tyler McDiarmid
Assistant Engineer: Nolan Thies
Photography by Anna Yatskevich
Graphics by Lukas Frei

Press Quotes:

“Douglas, 56, is good at pulling musicians together in contexts that support their musical voices but sound different from what they typically do. That’s the case with Engage, a new ensemble that features five younger improvisers, each aligned with a different corner of the avant-garde. As Engage, they play low-boil, medium-tempo music soaked in lovely harmonies; it’s not about centrifugal motion or free improvising so much as it’s about depth and connection and body.”
Giovanni Russonello, New York Times

“Douglas enlists a brilliant team of collaborators: cellist Tomeka Reid, flutist Anna Webber, bassist Nick Dunston, drummer Kate Gentile — and guitarist Jeff Parker, whose solo is a focal point in the track [“Showing Up.”]”
Nate Chinen, WBGO, Take Five Feature

“From the gospel-inflected groove of “Free Libraries” to the “Maiden Voyage”-style pulse that powers “Sanctuary Cities,” Douglas and company make a compelling case that standing up for shared values isn’t just good politics, but good art as well.”
J.D. Considine, Downbeat Editor’s Pick

“Each track … feels like a call to action, inspired by the optimism generated by the opposition to the political toxicity of recent times. This optimism is reflected in the compositions themselves…and in the collaborative spirit of the band.”
Matt Micucci, JAZZIZ ‘The Week in Jazz’ Feature

“A clarity of purpose is prominent in many of these tunes, with golden melodies leading the charge and the sextet’s feisty interplay exploding the themes. Rather than coming off like an ornery indictment of kids being caged at the the border, “How Are The Children?” radiates a dark-hued idealism that offers solace while suggesting transcendence, with saxophonist Ana Webber digging in to offer a variety of emotions in a perpetually flourishing solo.”
Jim Macnie, DownBeat ★★★★