Dave Douglas: Ecstasy In The West Village

Last night Dave Douglas celebrated his birthday at the Village Vanguard, which in a recent tweet the esteemed trumpeter correctly deemed “the Carnegie Hall of basements.” Douglas is in the West Village leading his Brass Ecstasy troupe. The gig is a celebration of sorts: United Front: Brass Ecstasy at Newport (Greenleaf) just dropped. It’s a nod to a few of the leader’s horn inspirations, including Navarro, Bowie and Rava. I watched ’em clock the performance last summer in Rhode Island, and it was sweet show, full of nuance and frolic. Dave’s added some new pieces to the book since then (one poster for the show mentioned a program of “Strayhorn, Tweedy, more”). He also recently tweeted about a tune called “My Old Sign,” about “changes to the zodiac and compatibility.” A pal texted me from the Wednesday night show and was throwing the exclamation points around. My recommendation for the Vanguard gig looks like this. You’ve still got three more nights to pack the place. The above clip finds the guys in action at chez Boilen.