Dave Douglas and So Percussion

GPS Vol 3: Bad Mango Greenleaf Music****

Like many jazz musicians over the past decade, trumpeter Dave Douglas has taken charge of his own destiny, setting up a record label and totally re-engineering the way he connects with his audience. Released on an almost monthly basis, Greenleaf’s Portable Series (GPS) is only available for download, and so far it’s been more than worth the very modest price. This third volume sets Douglas’s trumpet among the industrial soundscape of So Percussion, a quartet of experimental drummers who are just as likely to play a child’s toy or a desk bell as a conventional drum kit, generating dense, intricate rhythms that groove without repetition or cliche. Over it all, the trumpeter’s muscular, Miles Davis-inflected playing gives form to the rhythmic anarchy and proves he is one of the most interesting and adventurous musicians working in New York today. See greenleafmusic.com