戴夫道格拉斯 Dave Douglas生于一九六三年美国新泽西州。
小喇叭手/作曲家戴夫道格拉斯Dave Douglas有一个非常严重的缺点:他挂头牌出过十多张唱片,没有一张是在大厂发行,检视一下为他发片的品牌:Soul Note、 New World、Songlines、Hat Hut、Avant、Arabesque、DIW、Winter & Winter,几乎都是前卫、小众的独立品牌。
最近十多年来,爵士乐渐渐从谷底复苏,前辈重新受到乐迷瞩目,新锐乐手也渐次出头,众多年轻一代爵士乐手大都受过完整的学院训练,演奏技巧与音乐知识、学习环境,比起数十年前都有长足的进步。近几年来,我们听到无数技巧高超的新秀,每一个人的演奏能力都在水准之上,却往往少了一些探索音乐边境的冲动,少了一些冒险犯难的精神。
幸好,我们还有戴夫道格拉斯。
今年三十六岁的道格拉斯已经数次获得纽约时报、村声、Down Beat等媒体的极力推崇,他自小就在充满音乐的环境中成长,五岁学钢琴,七岁学小喇叭,高中开始学习爵士乐和声理论,以交换学生的身份,到西班牙巴塞隆纳进修音乐。十七到二十岁那几年在波士顿求学,先到百科里(Berklee)音乐学院,再
到新英格兰音乐学院,一九八四年移居纽约,在纽约大学继续进修。
道格拉斯的音乐,以风格多样著称,小时候在家里,父母有丰富的唱片收藏,所以从华格纳、贝多芬、披头合唱团、五黑宝(Jackson Five)、比莉哈乐黛、赛隆尼斯孟克到西索泰勒,各种不同的录音他都听,他自己回忆说:“而且最棒的是,在我听音乐的时候,家人没有给我任何价值判断,没有人跟我说这是经典、这是大师、这是流行歌、这很前卫、那很低俗什么的,一切都是音乐。”
儿时开放的聆听经验,或许跟他后来开放式的创作概念大有关系,道格拉斯被认为是最具原创性的新生代乐手,个人风格强烈而有丰富变化,年纪虽轻,作曲成绩却是质量俱佳。也正因为他的创意与多变,道格拉斯是个难以归类的乐手,他在台湾的名气,可能是从这几年加入萨克斯风手约翰佐恩John Zorn的Masada乐团开始,道格拉斯还曾经跟Masada一起巡回到台北,他们在台北的现场录音颇受欧美媒体好评, Masada是个融合了爵士乐与犹太传统音乐的团体,作品成就极高,却只是道格拉斯音乐事业中的一小部分。 这年轻人是个工作狂,道格拉斯自己手上还有好几个乐团,每一个都有不同的风格。第一个是和小提琴手马克费尔曼Mark Feldman等人组成的五重奏:戴夫道格拉斯弦乐团Dave Douglas String Group,在专辑《Coverage》的唱片内页里,道格拉斯说这个团体的音乐“不是爵士室内乐,也不是把古典音乐摇摆化。”有媒体好奇地问他:“不是这个也不是那个,《Coverage》这张唱片到底是什么?”道格拉斯回答说:“你要是真能给我一个答案,我还感谢你呢!”弦乐团的风格倾向于自由爵士与当代音乐的结合,在强弱、快慢、狂暴即兴和严密结构间自在游走,时有惊喜震撼,却又能够自圆其说,音乐的张力非常强大。过去在五零年代,唱片公司喜欢为爵士乐搭配弦乐团伴奏,这种作法常常只是为了增添音乐的柔美,几乎就是流行通俗化的代名词。八零年代以来,有为数不少的弦乐好手加入爵士乐阵营,甚至部分当代音乐乐手也共襄盛举,增添了许多乐器搭配变化的可能性。道格拉斯是一位极为擅长组合不同元素的作曲家,弦乐的处理更是专长,他双CD的《Sanctuary》专辑中,乐团组合包括两把低音大提琴、两把小号、两台取样器(sampler)、鼓和萨克斯风,音乐非常独特,有自由爵士的集体即兴,有灵魂探索的宗教意涵,也有在电子舞曲节拍下演奏融合爵士的另类音乐,取样来的钢琴敲击和扭曲人声、低音大提琴模拟虎豹猛兽嘶吼的怪异声响,自由解放、诡谲暗潮、明亮神圣等多种奇特的声音氛围,在道格拉斯的塑造整合之下,竟然能够取得精巧的平衡,令人叹为观止。
工作狂道格拉斯先生有另外一个极受爵士乐迷喜爱的乐团,名字叫做“Tiny Bell Trio”应该翻译成小铃铛三重奏,我自己好几次都讲错,把它叫成小叮当三重奏,这个乐团是个非常特殊的组合,由道格拉斯的小喇叭领军,搭配吉他手布莱德修比克Brad Shepik和鼓手吉姆布雷克Jim Black。说这个组合奇特,是因为这样的乐团演奏难度很高,没有钢琴,没有低音大提琴,小喇叭要帮忙控制节奏,吉他要协助铺陈和声,鼓还得补强声音空间,只有三个人,却得随时互相支援,应该是困难重重很忙很累,可是他们三位玩得游刃有余,简直兴高采烈。道格拉斯这等绝顶高手,为乐团取这种名字,摆明了是在装可爱,他说这个乐团的音乐是“巴尔干即兴爵士”,音乐上有东欧民族音乐、犹太音乐的影响,也有大量的即兴。他们的新作品《漂泊灵魂之歌Songs For Wandering Souls》非常精彩,道格拉斯的音色以及旋律线条的处理,都极有特色,一开始的《Sam Hill》由吉他和鼓作了一小段沉郁压抑的前奏,跟着道格拉斯开始独奏,音乐的色彩马上变得明亮开阔,真有点在山巅对着旷野吹奏的感觉。要听这三位乐手的杰出才华与合作默契,该研究一下唱片的第六曲《Breath A Thon》,吉他和小喇叭的合奏对应成为乐曲的主线,鼓手却像是围绕在主角旁边打转绕圈子,时而跑出来抢锋头,乍听之下似乎杂乱,暗中却隐藏着和谐与秩序,非常漂亮的演奏。唱片里全都是道格拉斯的创作曲,除了《Breath A Thon》是爵士乐手罗兰柯克的创作,《Nicht so schnell,mit viel Ton zu Spielen》是古典作曲家舒曼的作品,年轻人道格拉斯在唱片内页中表现了敬老尊贤的可爱面貌,他说:“《Breath A Thon》是人类创作力与才华的伟大表现,舒曼作品是我灵感的来源,请务必听听原曲。”
by Chris Kelsey
Dave Douglas arguably became the most original trumpeter/composer of his generation. Douglas stylistic range is broad yet unaffected; his music is not a pastiche, but rather a personal aesthetic that reflects a wide variety of interests. He explicitly cites such diverse influences as Igor Stravinsky, Stevie Wonder, and John Coltrane. As a composer, Douglas adapts and synthesizes unusual forms and creates his own out of disparate elements. As a trumpeter, Douglas possesses a comprehensive jazz technique; certainly, one hears the ghost of Lester Bowie in Douglas expressive manipulations of timbre and pitch, but more pronounced is the integration of distinctive compositional and improvisational conceptions that ultimately defines his work.
Douglas grew up in the New York City area. He started playing piano at the age of five, then trombone at seven before discovering the trumpet at nine. He learned jazz harmony in high school and began playing improvised music as an exchange student in Barcelona, Spain. From 1981-1983, he studied in Boston, first at Berklee School of Music, then the New England Conservatory. He moved to New York City in 1984, where he attended New York University and studied with Carmine Caruso. In 1987, he toured Europe with Horace Silver. The early 90s saw Douglas begin to record in earnest; he led or co-led dates for the Hat Art, Soul Note, New World, and Arabesque labels. His various bands include the Tiny Bell Trio, a self-described jazz-Balkan-improv group with drummer Jim Black and guitarist Brad Schoeppach; his String Group, which includes violinist Mark Feldman, cellist Erik Friedlander, and bassist Mark Dresser; and his Quartet and Sextet, which includes drummer Joey Baron.
Douglas began recording for RCA in 2000 with a tribute to jazz pianist Mary Williams entitled Soul on Soul. That same year A Thousand Evenings featuring Guy Klucevsek was released, followed by El Trilogy and Witness in 2001. It was with Witness that Douglas began to broaden his already eclectic scope, incorporating electronic-savvy improvisers like Jamie Saft and Ikue Mori. His next album, The Infinite, featured a more familiar sound but surprising covers of songs by Rufus Wainwright and Björk. Also busy as a sideman, he can be heard on recordings with Patricia Barber, Myra Melford, John Zorn, and Anthony Braxton, among others. Freak In was released in 2003. Douglas began his own Greenleaf label in 2003 and introduced it with his own Mountain Passages album, released in early 2005. The quintet albums Meaning and Mystery and Live at the Jazz Standard followed in 2006 and 2007, respectively.