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Dave Douglas and Frank Woeste – Dada People – Greenleaf

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 23, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews

Making music for Man Ray’s masterful art. Dave Douglas and Frank Woeste – Dada People [TrackList follows] – Greenleaf GRE-CD-1051, 63:14 [10/14/16] ****: (Dave Douglas – trumpet, co-producer; Frank Woeste – piano, Fender Rhodes, co-producer; Matt Brewer – bass; Clarence Penn – drums) Want to appreciate an artist’s efforts in a fresh way? Then try experiencing a person’s creativity filtered through another artist’s imagination. That’s the impetus behind the hour-long Dada People, the collaboration by trumpeter Dave Douglas and keyboardist Frank Woeste, alongside bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Clarence Penn. Douglas and Woeste set about penning music which offers a musical viewpoint focusing on famed artist Man Ray, who fashioned paintings, photography, “ready-mades” and other artistic endeavors (both commercial and non-commercial) and was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, though not formally a member of those groups. The ten original tracks (which are credited equally: five Douglas and five Woeste compositions) impart audio portraits but not always directly related to Man Ray’s creative output. Douglas states the material deliberately engages in the “spirit of mischievousness, of play, of mystery, and also of the ‘play of identity’ within the work of Ray and his circle.” That sphere of […]