Dave Douglas

Last night I listened to Dave Douglas' Soul on Soul.  In his recent releases I have to admit i've been dissapointed.  He is a wonderful trumpet player.  His composing technique is, at times, remarkable.  He has just about the best band you could ask for, not only as a group, but as individual improvisors.  I think Chris Speed (and Potter on Strange Liberation) and Josh Roseman are absolutely top notch on each of their instruments.  And yet, by the overall product, i'm dissapointed.  I rarely feel that i am listening to the music from the inside, but instead feel like i'm sitting outside of the performace passively observing.  This comes mainly from a lack of subtly, and this lack of subtly comes mainly from Douglas' playing.  HE PLAYS TO GODDAM LOUD ALL THE GODDAM TIME!  Even on what I surmised was meant as a ballad he's playing like he wants to rally the quarterback going into the fourth quarter.  This sort of playing seems exhibitionistic to me, and exhibitionism is the usual suspect for leaving the audience on the outside.  On top of his playing, the tunes can feel the same way to me, and he seems to encourage the slightly cringe-worthy side of Uri Caine.
   All this said, I respect him very much and when I saw him a couple months ago, it was powerful just to be in range of his horn.