js Dave Douglas is one of the more consistent artists today, turning out several albums every year that always position him at the forefront of today’s jazz scene. With just a couple months left in 2015, Douglas and his quintet have unleashed “Brazen Heart”, a fireball of creativity and energy that should be a strong contender for album of the year. Its hard to stick a genre tag on “Brazen Heart”, you could tag this avant-garde, modern fusion or post bop, and any of those tags would fit. The music swings, but this isn’t your father’s swing. Drummer Rudy Royston doesn’t just ride the ride cymbal, but instead swings the beat with every piece of the kit in a dizzying avalanche of rhythms.

Every player on here is great, but the real star is Douglas’ compositions that twist and turn in unpredictable ways. Most of these tracks are abstract and intense, yet there are some surprising change-ups such as a gospel ballad (“Deep River”), introduced early on in the track two spot, and another gospel tune, ("There is a Balm in Gilead"), that comes much later. Along with Douglas’ sophisticated and non-cliche structures, which often allow for two or three instruments soloing at the same time, the next salient feature on “Brazen Heart” is the drumming of the aforementioned Rudy Royston. Rudy is part of that cutting edge that is re-defining how the drums operate in a jazz tune. Influenced by the busy ‘all the drums at once’ approach of Ronald Shannon Jackson, Royston constantly shifts the rhythm and often provides rhythms that are a counterpoint to the soloist. Playing against someone like Rudy can’t be easy, I would imagine trying out for this band would quickly separate the lambs from the wolves.

If you want to hear the best that the modern jazz world has to offer, “Brazen Heart” would be a great place to start. This music is intellectual and abstract, but this isn't just technical exercises, this music is also fun, energetic and exciting. When I initially wrote this review, I did not know that this album was dedicated to the recent passing of Dave's brother. Knowing that now, I would say this music comes across more as a celebration of his brother's life, rather than a lament.

js Dave Douglas is usually known for his very complex and demanding music that tests his fellow musician’s skills to their limit, but on “Freak In”, Douglas takes a bit of a vacation and re-visit’s the 70s and the sound of psychedelic fusion, particularly Miles Davis albums such as “Big Fun” and “In a Silent Way”. While a little more casual than Douglas’ difficult acoustic post bop sets, “Freak In” still presents some excellent tracks, plus a few that are less than excellent. Dave gets a lot of help on here from an all-star cast of modern electronic jazz musicians, particularly Jamie Saft on keyboards and Marc Ribot on guitar. Meanwhile, Karsh Kale on tabla and Ikue Mori on electronic percussion provide the exotic tone colors that are necessary to make this style of fusion interesting.

“Freak In” opens strong with the blazing title track, which is probably one of the more intense fusion tracks recorded n this new century. Unfortunately, opening a CD with your best track means it’s a bit downhill from there. Only “The Great Schism” and “Traveler There is No Road” come close to capturing the fire of the opener. Of the more atmospheric tracks, “November”, “Porto Alegre” and “Maya” are all very nice. The rest of the tracks include a couple of plodding rockers and some incidental music that is not particularly memorable. With a little editing this could have been a very good 40 minute album, but stretching it into an 80 minute CD means some of the additional music is not on a par with the best tracks. Usually Douglas’s compositional skills are very high, but that doesn’t show much on this CD until you get to the bizarre closer, “The Mystic Lamb”, which is a short closing theme stretched into infinity with all manner of variations. Possibly this cut is a tongue-in-cheek humorous salute to Miles’ time stretching classic, “Great Expectations”.

As is the case with this sort of psychedelic music, the sounds and tone colors are almost more important than the notes, and in this respect, Douglas and his crew do not disappoint as they provide plenty of pretty electronic ear candy. Overall “Freak In” is not one of Douglas’ better albums, but it is an enjoyable departure from his usual, and with a little editing, you can put together a very good modern/retro fusion joint.

js What’s modern jazz supposed to sound like anymore, with so many styles to choose from these days, its hard to tell. Hard/post bop continues its popular resurgence, the avant-garde is in full effect with more variety than ever before, fusion and soul jazz are back again as relevant styles, meanwhile, all manner of “nu” influences take musicians in a myriad of different directions. If you are looking for that ‘real jazz‘ that is not a direct throwback to the 60s, then Dave Douglas’ “Time Travel” could be a great place to start. Drawing on a legacy that starts with Mingus and Dolphy, Douglas and his band play an abstract hard post bop sound that often veers into free territory while incorporating modern elements as well. Douglas and his crew know how to swing, but this isn't a look back at the Blue Note era. Much of this band’s modern approach comes from drummer Rudy Royston, who plays in a very loose style that often only implies the pulse while supplying complicated fills and patterns that draw on modern fusion as well as free jazz. One possible precedent for this album could be Herbie Hancock’s VSOP concerts that revisited the 60s Miles Davis post bop sound, but with an aggressive post-fusion approach.

Two great standout cuts on this album that show this band’s sense of humor include “Beware of Doug”, which takes old school jump blues riffs and scrambles them up, and CD opener “Bridge to Nowhere” that has that slam bang T Monk type sound. Those who enjoy a more free style abandon will want to check out “Time Travel” and “Little Feet”, while “Garden State” supplies the high speed post bop rush. “Time Travel” is a great CD, real jazz that continues to move forward without selling out to simpler trendy approaches.

snobb Dave Douglas is NY-based trumpeter known by his collaboration on John Zorn and other downtown artists albums. But from early 90s he regularly releases his solo albums (usually with help of same downtown musicians)and very often his solo albums are really interesting for open year listener.

"Witness" is conceptual nine-pieces suite inspired by different politicians from all around the world. Being mostly instrumental work,all portraits are painted mostly by moods and rhythms,atmosphere and mix of musical genres and techniques. Generally based on modern transcription of late 60s avant-garde jazz, this album's music is not easy object for any classification.

Such great downtown artists as violinist Mark Feldman and cellist Erik Friedlander give chamber chamber jazz flavor to whole music,but their scene colleague electronics guru Ikue Mori (presented on album in quite unusual role of electronics percussionist)transfer all sound to modern "out" horizons.

Most exotic collaborator on this album is obviously Tom Waits,contributing speaking vocals (not singing) on one of the songs. I believe his participation is very symbolic here - a lot of album's moments sound as modern look on beatniks atmosphere of late 50s.

Interesting and refreshing album even if not for jazz purists.