Dave Douglas, Witness
Chris Dahlen
Witness is the greatest political statement to come from the downtown New York jazz scene since the time John Zorn told loud talkers Madeleine Albright and Vaclav Havel to "shut the fuck up" during his set. It's about as specific, too - rather than pushing a cause or specifying issues, Douglas has a broader agenda: "Each piece is inspired by and dedicated to artists and activists who have creatively challenged authority, sometimes endangering their own lives, but inspriring the rest of us to resist." Finally, a downtown avant-garde supergroup masterpiece that gives a damn about something.
The liner notes and song titles list the specific writers and activists to whom Douglas dedicates these pieces. Having no lyrics, the music describes them in attitude. It's the voice of a chaotic populace - a "Ruckus" on the first piece, meditative on "Woman at Point Zero," a spastic caper on "Kidnapping Kissinger." The band is a street scene on one track and a unified chorus on others, like the near-anthem "Episode for Taslima Nasrin." To create the confusion Douglas has assembled his largest ensemble to date: nine instruments, broken into threes - three horns, three strings, and three percussion instruments, with a couple of guests (notably Tom Waits doing spoken word). The solos are surrounded by commentary - Bryan Carrott colluding on vibes and glockenspiel, or Ikue Mori emitting a steady freaky noise on electronic percussion - but never enough to distract us from listening to Erik Friendlander's singing, shrieking cello, Chris Speed's keening sax, or Douglas' bold trumpet lines. This is "difficult listening," though it's jammed with swing and skronk; it'll be familiar to fans of the avant-garde but will sound refreshingly motivated and unacademic to non-jazz fans.
The ensemble is at the same high level (and features some of the same people) as Uri Caine's recent Mahler project, but where Caine's musical mission was more ambitious, Douglas scores points for strength and passion. This record is in the tradition of Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite or the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, but adapted to the era of global protest - more erratic, more colorful, more confusing. On the other hand, it's also less "enforcable." Where Max Roach made a bold civil rights statement, Douglas seems to argue that we should keep an open mind and read more Third World writers - though he argues it passionately.
Musically, the only real misstep is the inclusion of the twenty-three minute piece "Mahfouz," featuring Tom Waits reading from the works of Naguib Mahfouz. In the longer timeframe the band sounds comparatively refined, and is much less fun than on the rest of the album. In addition, Waits is mixed too low for the words to be easily understood, especially on a car stereo, or on headphones at a World Trade Organization protest. But those criticisms aside, "Mahfouz" is a fascinating piece and one of Douglas' most ambitious compositions. Nothing on Witness is unremarkable: this is a groundbreaking album, required listening for any fan of committed music.
Related resources
Dave Douglas' official site includes biographical information and a tour schedule.
Although Douglas doesn't offer mp3's or other clips from the album, you can read the sheet music for Sozaboy.
The Zorn-Albright-Havel incident is described in more detail here.