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Dave Douglas

Schedule

Sunday 14 July
21:00 - 22:00: La Cathédrale

Dave Douglas (US)

Jazz

As the contemporary jazz scene ushers in a new generation of trumpet players - Ambrose Akinmusire, Christian Scott and Avishai Cohen, to name a few – a live performance by Dave Douglas is becoming far too rare.

His performance during Festival de la Cité is going to be quite the event!

The evolution of the trumpet’s sound in the past 30 years was partly due to the 56-year-old virtuoso. It is a time when the trumpeter explored many different avenues, ranging from the boldest and most avant-garde paths to the well-trodden ones. He never hesitated to go back in time to prolong roads that have already been started by others, or to unearth buried treasure and save them from oblivion.

In 1987, he started performing with veteran Horace Silver (1928-2014) all while plunging into the bubbling scene of New York’s “downtown.” He participated in saxophonist John Zorn’s “Masada” project and roamed within klezmer (the musical steppes of the East). He played with prominent members of the wild Big Apple bunch such as violinist Mark Feldman, pianist Uri Caine and guitarist Marc Ribot. He also explored the repertoires of Wayne Shorter, Booker Little or the far too little known pianist Mary Lou Williams.

Dave Douglas fuses the unexpected, whether he is playing in a duo, a trio, a quintet or a sextet. He has blended his trumpet with Guy Kucevsek’s accordeon or DJ Olive’s turntables, composed for choreographer Trisha Brown, stuck his fingers in Miles’ electrical outlet, immersed himself in the classics, plunged into the laments of folk after his mother’s death in 2011...

Whether he harmonizes with clarinetist Louis Sclavis or pianist Bill Carrothers, this multifaceted jazzman is not one to be caged. Instead, he chooses to excel wherever he chooses to tread… and he has quite itchy feet!

His upcoming performance in Lausanne is a new chapter with the quintet Engage, combining his brass sound with guitar (nothing new for someone who often teamed up with Brad Shepik), cello, bass and drums. You’ll find yourself in a place where complexity meets coherence… and of course, beauty.

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