{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album| | name = Strange Liberation | type = [[Album]] | artist = [[Dave Douglas (trumpeter)|Dave Douglas]] | cover = Strange Liberation.jpg | alt = | released = 27 January 2004 | recorded = January 2003 | venue = | studio = | genre = [[Jazz]] | length = | label = [[Bluebird Records|Bluebird]] | producer = [[Dave Douglas (trumpeter)|Dave Douglas]] | prev_title = [[Freak In]] | prev_year = 2003 | next_title = [[Bow River Falls]] | next_year = 2003 }}
'''''Strange Liberation''''' is the 21st album by [[jazz]] [[trumpet]]er [[Dave Douglas (trumpeter)|Dave Douglas]].<ref>Roussel, Patrice, [http://nyds-discographies.com/douglas.htm Discography of Dave Douglas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722040845/http://nyds-discographies.com/douglas.htm |date=2015-07-22 }}, accessed 21 July 2015</ref> It was released on the [[Bluebird Records|Bluebird]] imprint of [[RCA Records]] in 2004. The album features the Dave Douglas Quintet plus guest guitarist [[Bill Frisell]]. The album received widespread critical acclaim and did well on the jazz album charts, reaching number three on [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']]'s and number one on [[CMJ New Music Monthly|''CMJ'']]'s.
==Overview== Trumpeter and [[bandleader]] Dave Douglas returns with his [[quintet]] that premiered on his 2002 album ''[[The Infinite (album)|The Infinite]]''.<ref name="Dahlen">{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/2538-strange-liberation/|title=Dave Douglas: ''Strange Liberation''|last=Dahlen|first=Chris|date=15 June 2004|publisher=[[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]]|accessdate=25 January 2011}}</ref> His band is composed of [[Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist)|Chris Potter]] on [[tenor saxophone]] and [[bass clarinet]], [[Uri Caine]] on [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes]], [[James Genus]] on [[bass (instrument)|bass]], and [[Clarence Penn]] on [[drum kit|drums]],<ref name="Ratliff">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/27/arts/music/27CHOI.html|title=New CD's; Following Improv Bread Crumbs|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|date=27 January 2004|work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=25 January 2011}}</ref> plus guest [[guitar]]ist [[Bill Frisell]].<ref name="Myers">{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?review_id=11372|title=Dave Douglas: ''Strange Liberation''|last=Myers|first=Mark|date=15 January 2004|publisher=[[All About Jazz]]|access-date=25 January 2011|archive-date=25 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025053301/http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?review_id=11372|url-status=dead}}</ref> This is Douglas's first collaboration with Frisell,<ref name="OueletteRev" /> someone he had wanted to work with since 1987.<ref name="Myers" /> This is Douglas's sixth release on Bluebird Records<ref name="OueletteRev">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQ8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=dave-douglas+%22strange+liberation%22&pg=PA32|title=''Strange Liberation''|last=Ouelette|first=Dan|date=24 January 2004|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=32|accessdate=25 January 2011}}</ref> and was recorded by engineer Joe Ferla in [[Direct Stream Digital|DSD]]<ref name="Conrad">{{cite web|url=http://jazztimes.com/articles/14551-strange-liberation-dave-douglas|title=Jazz Reviews: ''Strange Liberation''|last=Conrad|first=Thomas|date=April 2004|work=[[JazzTimes]]|accessdate=25 January 2011|archive-date=14 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114152423/http://jazztimes.com/articles/14551-strange-liberation-dave-douglas|url-status=live}}</ref>
Prior to the album's release Douglas premiered the track "The Frisell Dream" at the 2003 [[Monterey Jazz Festival]].<ref name="Ouellette">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jxEEAAAAMBAJ&dq=dave-douglas+%22strange+liberation%22&pg=PA17|title=McLaughlin, Eastwood:Memorable Monterey Moments|last=Ouellette|first=Dan|date=18 October 2003|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=17|accessdate=25 January 2011}}</ref> The track "Just Say This" refers to the [[September 11 attacks]] and their [[Aftermath of the September 11 attacks|aftermath]].<ref name="Myers" /> Douglas attempts to respond to an eight-year-old's attempt to play [[Thelonious Monk]]'s "[[Blue Monk]]" with the tune "Skeeter-ism".<ref name="Myers" /> The album's title is derived from a phrase used by [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] in reference to America's involvement in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="Jurek">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/strange-liberation-r676297/review|title=Review: ''Strange Liberation''|last=Jurek|first=Thom|work=[[Allmusic]]|accessdate=25 January 2011}}</ref>
==Reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = [[Allmusic]] | rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="Jurek" /> }} In the book ''Essential Jazz: the First 100 Years'', the album is called "a fascinating amalgam of 4/4 swing grooves and rock-based electric textures reminiscent of [[Miles Davis]]'s electric music of the late 1960s".<ref name="MartinWaters2008">{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Henry|last2=Waters|first2=Keith|title=Essential Jazz: the First 100 Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e64R7pJ3zJsC&pg=PA265|accessdate=25 January 2011|year=2008|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0-495-50525-9|page=265}}</ref> John Kelman from [[All About Jazz]] counters that opinion by recounting that while Douglas's earlier release ''The Infinite'' did hearken back to late 1960s Davis, this release moves "completely into Dave Douglas territory". He concludes his review saying that the album is "another fine entry in a body of work that strives to break down barriers by eliminating preconceptions as to what music should or shouldn't be".<ref name="Kelman">{{cite web|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/strange-liberation-dave-douglas-rca-victor-review-by-john-kelman|title=Dave Douglas: ''Strange Liberation''|last=Kelman|first=John|date=24 February 2004|publisher=[[All About Jazz]]|access-date=25 January 2011|archive-date=22 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022044344/http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=13188|url-status=live}}</ref>
Dylan Hicks of ''[[City Pages]]'' call the album Douglas's "strongest effort" since signing with Bluebird,<ref name="Hicks">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypages.com/2004-02-11/music/dave-douglas-strange-liberation/|title=Dave Douglas: ''Strange Liberation''|last=Hicks|first=Dylan|date=11 February 2004|work=[[City Pages]]|access-date=25 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909014217/http://www.citypages.com/2004-02-11/music/dave-douglas-strange-liberation/|archive-date=9 September 2009}}</ref> similarly Chris Dahlen of [[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]] calls the album "a set of music that's simply one of the best written, paced and performed works in his catalog",<ref name="Dahlen" /> in ''[[The New York Times]]'' Ben Ratliff calls it "the best album in several years by Dave Douglas",<ref name="Ratliff" /> and Thom Jurek from [[Allmusic]] writes "in its imagination and depth it is one of the high marks of Douglas' thus far prolific career".<ref name="Jurek" />
In All About Jazz, Marc Meyers says the album "explod[es] in a veritable riot of colors, moods, idioms, and rhythms".<ref name="Myers" /> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' named the album a 'Critics' Choice' with Dan Ouellette calling it "a reflective, whimsical and driving quintet date". He goes on to refer to the Douglas/Frisell pairing as a "perfect tonal match". Thomas Conrad writes in ''[[JazzTimes]]'' that the album "possesses, in spades, that quality of immediacy essential to jazz".<ref name="Conrad" />
==Track listing== ''All compositions by Dave Douglas''<ref name="Myers" /> # "A Single Sky" – 2:05 # "Strange Liberation" – 8:04 # "Skeeter-ism" – 5:58 # "Just Say This" – 6:29 # "Seventeen" - 8:39 # "Mountains From the Train" – 5:15 # "Rock of Billy" – 5:55 # "The Frisell Dream" – 3:54 # "Passing Through" – 1:36 # "The Jones" – 4:24 # "Catalyst" – 5:08 :*''Recorded in New York City in January 2003''
==Personnel== *[[Dave Douglas (trumpeter)|Dave Douglas]] – [[trumpet]] *[[Bill Frisell]] – [[guitar]] *[[Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist)|Chris Potter]] – [[tenor saxophone]], [[bass clarinet]] *[[Uri Caine]] – [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes]] *[[James Genus]] – [[bass (instrument)|bass]] *[[Clarence Penn]] – [[drum kit|drums]], [[percussion instrument|percussion]]
===Production=== *Ann Cutting – [[Album cover|cover photo]] *Joe Ferla – associate producer, [[Audio engineering|engineer]], [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing]] *Suzannah Kincannon – photography *Hiroyuki Komuro – engineer *Sheryl Lutz-Brown – design *Jason Stasium – assistant *David Weyner – [[executive producer]] *Mark Wilder – [[Audio mastering|mastering]] *Kevin Wilson – assistant
==Charts== {| class="wikitable" !colspan="3"| Jazz Albums Chart |- ! Year ! Source ! Peak |- |rowspan="2"| February 2004 | ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' | 3<ref name="BBchart">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gw8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=strange+liberation&pg=PA62|title=Top Jazz Albums|date=21 February 2004|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=62|accessdate=25 January 2011}}</ref> |- | ''[[CMJ New Music Monthly|CMJ]]'' | 1<ref name="CMJ chart">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UmM6AQ76v6MC&dq=dave-douglas+%22strange+liberation%22&pg=PA17|title=Jazz album chart|date=1 March 2004|work=[[CMJ New Music Monthly]]|page=17|accessdate=25 January 2011}}</ref> |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Dave Douglas}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:2004 albums]] [[Category:Dave Douglas (trumpeter) albums]] [[Category:Bluebird Records albums]]