DownBeat's review of last week's Riverside show at the Jazz Standard

By Ken Micallef

With his endless energy and boundless invention, trumpeter Dave Douglas takes on new projects as if changing suits—or in his case, caps. If Douglas ever chooses to settle down, Riverside (Greenleaf)—his new album (and band of the same name) with Chet Doxas (clarinet and saxophone), Steve Swallow (electric bass) and Jim Doxas (drums)—would be an ideal place to sit a spell. The quartet presented the album’s Americana-meets-jazz sounds at New York’s Jazz Standard on April 15–16.

Douglas explored hymnal jazz on 2012’s Be Still (Greenleaf), big band jazz on 2009’s A Single Sky (Greenleaf) and paid tribute to pianist Mary Lou Williams on 2000’s Soul On Soul (RCA). The trumpeter changes direction so adeptly—typically bringing to bear eclectic styles and sources on his increasingly wide-ranging music—that it is impossible to pigeonhole the musician behind the music.

Riverside is a tribute to composer-clarinetist-saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre (1921–2008). According to the liner notes, “Jimmy blazed many trails in music. He inspires us to new levels of melodic invention, rhythmic subtlety, and true freedom in the practice of improvisation.” The album consists of original compositions by Douglas and Chet Doxas, respectively, as well as one Giuffre tune (“The Train And The River”) and a cover of Johnny Mercer’s “Travelin’ Light,” the title track of Giuffre’s 1958 trio album.

Read the rest here.

Jimmy Giuffre — Through the Lens of Dave Douglas and Riverside

By Jon Garelick

The scope of the composer and reed player Jimmy Giuffre’s music is so broad that you could approach it from just about any angle and no one would be able to tell you that you’re doing it wrong — chamber jazz, free jazz, bebop, big band (he wrote the Woody Herman anthem “Four Brothers”), or a concerto for soloist and strings. They’re all legitimate approaches to the Giuffre way.

I say Giuffre’s “way,” not his compositions, because that’s the approach that’s being taken by the band Riverside, which comprises trumpeter Dave Douglas (who studied with Giuffre for a semester at New England Conservatory), bassist Steve Swallow (who played with Giuffre at two different points of the reedman’s career along with the pianist Paul Bley), and Canadian brothers Chet (reeds) and Jim (drums) Doxos, who never met Giuffre.

Riverside has a new self-titled album on Douglas’s Greeleaf Music label, on which they play only one piece by Giuffre (“The Train and the River”), and another that he covered (Trummy Young and Johnny Mercer’s “Travelin’ Light”). The other nine tunes on the record are originals by Douglas and Chet Doxas. An album note tells us that it was created in memory of Giuffre and that it draws inspiration from the “many trails” he blazed in “melodic invention, rhythmic subtlety, and true freedom in the practice of improvisation.”

Read the rest here.

Grandiose soirée de jazz avec Dave Douglas, Chet Doxas, Jim Doxas et Steve Swallow au Théâtre Petit Champlain de Québec

Le Festival de jazz de Québec présentait en ce vendredi 18 mars le concert RIVERSIDE avec le réputé trompettiste américain Dave Douglas, le saxophoniste Chet Doxas, le batteur Jim Doxas et le bassiste américain Steve Swallow. RIVERSIDE se veut un hommage à Jimmy Giuffre, grand saxophoniste et clarinettiste américain qui a inspiré les musiciens de jazz durant plusieurs décennies à partir de 1960.

Le spectacle en cette salle idéale du Petit Champlain était de très haut niveau. Le groupe a repris et réinterprété des compositions de Giuffre ainsi que quelques créations de Dave Douglas et Chet Doxas.

Le concert était spectaculaire dans son exécution. Tous ces musiciens sont des artistes et des créateurs virtuoses. Il faut les voir jouer ensemble, se compléter, se répondre, improviser. Le trompettiste Dave Douglas et le saxophoniste Chet Doxas donnent le lead des compositions présentées. L’accord entre ces deux musiciens est impressionnant. Leur sonorité mutuelle, leurs improvisations sont magnifiques. Ils sont complétés par le travail intéressant, discret mais impeccable du grand musicien qu’est Steve Swallow à la basse. Et à la batterie, on retrouve le travail hors norme de Jim Doxas. Ce dernier est un batteur mais également un percussionniste affichant une haute créativité constamment. Il utilise toutes les possibilités de sa batterie et il va au-delà.

Read the rest here (in French).

Riverside: unis par Jimmy Giuffre - Le Soleil

By Ian Bussières

(Québec) Les amateurs de jazz de Québec seront les premiers au Canada à pouvoir assister à une prestation de Riverside, le nouveau projet du trompettiste américain Dave Douglas qui se produira ce soir au Théâtre Petit Champlain. Le spectacle aura lieu trois jours seulement après la parution de l'album sur lequel Douglas s'associe avec les Montréalais Chet Doxas (clarinette et saxophone) et Jim Doxas (batterie) et le bassiste Steve Swallow.

Comme l'indique Douglas, Riverside, c'est l'histoire de quatre musiciens qui sont en quelque sorte réunis par l'esprit du clarinettiste et saxophoniste Jimmy Giuffre, décédé à l'âge de 86 ans en 2008. L'album regroupe d'ailleurs neuf compositions inspirées par Giuffre et deux pièces qu'il avait l'habitude d'interpréter.

«J'ai toujours senti qu'il y avait une certaine aisance, un flot qui coule naturellement dans la musique de Jimmy Giuffre. C'est de là que vient le nom du groupe et c'est aussi ce qui nous a amenés à vouloir explorer ce territoire. Il y a bien sûr The Train and the River, composée par Giuffre, et Travellin' Light, un très vieux standard que nous faisons avec les arrangements qu'il avait faits», explique Douglas à propos des deux reprises de Riverside.

Read the rest here (in French).

Ottawa Citizen on Riverside: "a strikingly strong and focused effort."

Jazz fans in the United States and beyond are well acquainted with the commanding music that trumpeter Dave Douglas and bassist Steve Swallow have made over the years.

Hopefully, they’ll take Riverside, the new CD released today that features these stars, as a spur to further appreciate the art made by their full-fledged collaborators Chet Doxas on tenor saxophone and clarinet and his brother, the drummer Jim Doxas, both of Montreal. 

Read the rest here.

New York Times' review of Riverside

One of the lovelier songs on“Riverside,” the self-titled debut album of a sturdily approachable new jazz quartet, bears the title “Old Church, New Paint.” A slow waltz by the tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Chet Doxas, from Montreal, it inhabits a kind of arid terrain between Protestant hymn and cowboy tune.

The industrious trumpeter Dave Douglas, who actually made a recent album of hymns, joins Mr. Doxas on the melody, helping give the impression of deliberative but bluesy determination. Steve Swallow, the electric bassist, lays both a foundation and a light dusting of grace notes, while Jim Doxas, a drummer (and Chet’s brother) stirs the pulse with brushes. The band, which will appear at the Jazz Standard on Tuesday and Wednesday, sounds at ease with itself, and anything but hurried.

Read the rest here.

The Free Jazz Collective gives Riverside ****½ Stars!

By Paul Acquaro

The musical legacy of woodwind player and composer Jimmy Giuffre is one that is deeply intertwined with many of the recordings that are reviewed here on the Free Jazz Blog. Giuffre's album Free Fall from 1962 with bassist Steve Swallow and pianist Paul Bley is often regarded as a seminal moment in the development of free jazz, introducing a subtle chamber music approach to free improvisation. However, in the years leading up to this watershed recording, Giuffre had a trio with guitarist Jim Hall and Ralph Pena that approached jazz with deference to deep American folk and country roots.

So, why all this talk about Giuffre's music? Because trumpeter and composer David Douglas has put together a group that uses Giuffre's earlier music as a jumping off point into an exciting pool of folk and blues inspired tunes that are as unabashedly fun as they are cleverly composed.

Read the rest at freejazzblog.org

Marlbank gives Riverside a **** Star RECOMMENDED Review

This is a bit different. It feels like a lost world, music that’s been hidden away for too long. Slightly quirky, certainly jaunty, Douglas tune ‘Thrush’ opens proceedings. The trumpeter co-leads the band with Montreal-born reeds player Chet Doxas, the pair teaming with electric bass icon Steve Swallow, and Chet’s brother drummer Jim Doxas.

The main thrust of Riverside is its theme around the timeless music of clarinetist/saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre (1921-2008).

Read the rest at Marlbank.net.

Praise for Greenleaf Music's Rudy Royston