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BloombergBusiness: How a Star Trumpeter Makes Money Even When Jazz Can't

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By Devin Leonard

Dave Douglas is one of the most venerated figures in jazz—and he's figured out how to profit from it

Dave Douglas, the jazz trumpeter, composer, bandleader, record label owner, and podcaster, lives off a narrow road in the woods in a village called Croton-on-Hudson, about an hour north of New York City. It’s a good place for a noisy person. Douglas sometimes practices his horn while keeping time with his feet on his drum set. “I’m not a good drummer,” he confesses. “But it’s a great rhythmic exercise.”

Douglas often multitasks. He's one of the most venerated trumpeters in jazz, has won a Guggenheim fellowship for composition, and has fronted numerous bands, including the acoustic Dave Douglas Quintet; Keystone, a group with a DJ that provided music for silent films; and Nomad, a folk-influenced group that made its debut in the Italian Alps at a concert 10,000 feet above sea level. Douglas is currently working on a record, scheduled for release in June, featuring High Risk, his newest band, and Shigeto, an electronic musician from the Detroit area who weaves video game sounds into his work. 

But what's equally remarkable about Douglas is what's least discussed: He's a shrewd entrepreneur who has figured out how to market his music to a global audience at a time when the record industry is struggling to survive. Few musical genres were hit harder by the industry's troubles than jazz. In 2003, Americans bought 23 million jazz albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In 2013, they purchased only 5 million. Most major labels have significantly reduced their new jazz releases. Universal Music Group’s Verve, the onetime home of Ella Fitzgerald, is pushing smooth R&B singers such as Ruben Studdard of American Idol fame. Even Blue Note—perhaps the most storied jazz label of all—has morphed into more of a sophisticated adult pop imprint, putting out records by Roseanne Cash and Annie Lennox along with those by hard-core jazz instrumentalists such as Wayne Shorter.

Read the rest here.

10 Questions for Dave Douglas

In Chicago as part of a residency at Columbia College including performances this weekend at the Jazz Showcase, Dave Douglas sat down with Michael Jeffers of Chicago Jazz Magazine:

(1) CJM: What were your main influences musically when you were growing up that you think might have had some influence on your style of trumpet playing today?

Douglas: My main interest was always the complete musicians--composer, player, bandleader, visionary types. John Coltrane is a good example of someone who kept growing, expanding and changing. That takes a certain kind of courage that we are trying to instill in these young musicians from Columbia College. No matter what style of music, the main thing is to create something of your own, and to keep progressing and growing in the music. Miles Davis of course has always been a major inspiration for me. Igor Stravinsky is another example of someone whose music changed and evolved over time. Stevie Wonder, Wayne Shorter, Gil Evans, all have been very important influences for me. But there is no end to the inspirations!

(2) CJM: You have performed with many different artists over the years, was there a specific experience or artist that really opened up your mind and allowed you to think of music in a new and different way?

Douglas: Playing with Horace Silver was a formative experience for me. Seeing and hearing him shape the music night after night taught me a lot about presenting music. Later on I was grateful to be hired by Don Byron, his curiosity and openness was a major eye opener. Tim Berne, John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Myra Melford, Han Bennink, Joe Lovano, Martial Solal, Vincent Herring, all of these musicians hired me at one time or another and have had a profound influence on my career as a musician. 

(3) CJM: Looking over your career so far you have appeared on more than 40 recordings and you have worked with musicians and groups in a wide range of genres. Do you have a particular style of music you enjoy the most or a style that brings out the most creativity in your playing?

Douglas: In all of my projects, I try not to be limited by style. In the 40 recordings I have made as a leader, my goal has been to make each one different and represent a distinct vision. I find the most stimulating thing for me is to be constantly challenged to re-evaluate everything. Every day to try to encounter music anew with fresh ears.

Read the rest here.

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Chicago Tribune: Dave Douglas meets Columbia students in bold new music

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By Howard Reich

There's nothing more inspiring in jazz than watching young musicians sharing a stage with a master composer-improviser.

Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune

Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune

That happens periodically at the Jazz Showcase, when a collegiate band appears alongside a noted soloist, but on Thursday night there was a new twist to the formula: The students didn't just play the scores – they wrote them.

For the past several months, members of the Columbia College Jazz Ensemble have been penning and polishing their big-band compositions and rehearsing them with Dave Douglas, one of the most admired trumpeters in jazz. Douglas has been flying to Chicago periodically to develop the work with the students, who are being taught by Columbia's director of jazz studies, Scott Hall.

So when the band took the stage at the Showcase, they carried a triple load as composers, performers and partners of a major jazz artist. They did so with aplomb.

Read he rest here.

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Dave Douglas at Tallcorn Jazz Festival

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Dave Douglas will be the featured guest at this weekend's Tallcorn Jazz Festival, taking place at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Sponsored by the Beta Nu Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the festival includes masterclasses and band competitions, as well as performances by Dave on Friday and Saturday, February 20 and 21. Both shows are at 7:15 PM in Bengstom Auditorium. Tickets are available here.

Ten Years of Greenleaf Music

Dave Douglas' company Greenleaf Music celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2015, kicking things off with a sale commemorating Mountain Passages, the label's first release, on January 25, 2005.

Greenleaf was started with the intent to make and distribute music in a different way, to provide a platform for Dave’s work as well as for artists he wants to showcase, and to create a community of like-minded fans to discover and enjoy the music. In ten years, Greenleaf Music has released over 40 different projects, including countless albums from Dave Douglas, as well as artists Kneebody, Donny McCaslin, Michael Bates, Nicole Mitchell, Curtis MacDonald, Linda Oh, Matt Ulery, Rudy Royston, Riverside and Ryan Keberle.

Read more about the history of this music company here.

“Greenleaf is a family name that goes back at least four centuries. I wanted the label to have a sense of family, both in the way we treat recordings and in the way we deal with artists. You can sit around and gripe about the music industry ’til you’re blue in the face or you can do it yourself and act on what you believe in.”
— Dave Douglas, 2005

Ralph Farris' music for The Tempest on tour again

The Aquila Theatre's 2014-15 National Tour resumes this week with their production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest at the George Mason University Center for the Arts in Fairfax, Virginia. The Tempest marks the second collaboration between Aquila and composer Ralph Farris, who composed incidental music for the company's production of A Female Philoctetes at BAM.

See the company's entire tour schedule here.