UPDATE: Listen to the full performance archive

Dave Douglas Quintet ft special guest Aoife O’Donovan
w/ Jon Irabagon, Matt Mitchell, Linda Oh & Clarence Penn
***Live stream via Checkout/WBGO/NPR***
8:00PM EST @ 92Y-Tribeca / 200 Hudson Street, NYC

I sincerely hope you can join me Wednesday, September 19 at 8pm for the first performance of Be Still — music from my new album featuring vocalist Aoife O’Donovan, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist Linda Oh, and drummer Clarence Penn. It’s a very beautiful new project and something I am eager to share with you.

Be Still initially came about from a collection of hymn songs suggested by my mother, Emily Douglas. She passed away last year after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She wanted a joyous celebration of life, and playing these arrangements with Aoife and the band has been powerfully uplifting and life-affirming. Far from funereal (!), playing these tunes has become a true celebration for us, and the kind of party that Emily would have wanted.

I never imagined I would be playing this music, and yet the songs have come to life for me in a rich and powerfully personal way. Along with the hymns, I’ve written some new pieces for the band, and arranged a few more folk songs. Adding harmonies and improvisations brings a new context for these songs, and the musicians in this project are bringing so much of themselves to the music. This is a new area for me after many years in music and I look forward to sharing it on Wednesday and beyond.

Thanks and best.
Dave