Overcome Dave Douglas

• 1 We Shall Overcome 04:35
• 2 Good Trouble, for John Lewis 07:15
• 3 Overcome 05:09
• 4 When We Are Together Again 04:25
• 5 Peace 05:09
• 6 Perspective 12:08
• Total Runtime 38:41

Info for Overcome

Overcome is a new Dave Douglas recording, alongside vocalists Fay Victor and Camila Meza, trombonist Ryan Keberle, bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Rudy Royston, who banded together over a period of months to create a new album of songs. A statement of purpose, an acknowledgement of forebears, and an exhortation to activism, Overcome involves the six musicians in an emotional and powerful statement of human engagement towards justice: Racial justice. Climate justice. Voting justice. Gender justice.

The project began with a reimagining of the Civil Rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome,” featuring Victor and Meza each singing a verse before joining for a rousing final verse. As Douglas began working on the originals for the album, this unique communal vocal interplay became a key element of three more pieces: “Overcome” and “When We Are Together Again” are both inspired by the challenges of pandemic isolation; “Good Trouble” celebrates activist John Lewis. Victor takes the spotlight on “Peace” as she voices poignant poetry from Langston Hughes. And the free-spirited Royston original “Perspective” brings a nice balance to the proceedings. This is spirited communal music on a mission.

Liner Notes: The project began in discussions with Ryan Keberle about what more we could do to address the changes towards justice we both see as crucial to our country and our society. Racial justice. Climate justice. Voting justice. Gender justice. Scientific justice. And now the push for science to begin to push back the virus so we can all gather together again. We decided we could make music devoted to civic engagement and speaking out on these issues. And in an election year, we saw the band touring in swing states around the country. Without any touring, those plans changed. But I was determined to follow through on the creative vision for the project and began writing in earnest in April 2020.

The first thing that came naturally to the project was my arrangement of We Shall Overcome. We’ve been singing that for years and felt like with two vocalists like Fay and Camila, we could make a new unique version of the piece. Camila chose the verse, “We Are Not Afraid,” from among several available. It’s so strong. Then I began writing the original pieces. The word “Overcome” started to take on new resonances through the depth of feeling and resilience during this time of isolation. We began the process of recording in July 2020, and passed files back and forth over the next few months.

Once complete, it was hard for any of us to imagine we had not been in the same room when this music was made. I am so grateful to Jorge, Rudy, Ryan, Fay and Camila for helping me pull this off. I’m all grateful to Tyler McDiarmid for helping us out with engineering throughout the whole process. We are Overcome. We Shall Overcome. Enjoy.

“Dave Douglas’ Overcome - a warm and reflective sextet album featuring vocalists Fay Victor and Camila Meza - didn’t fit either template: Recorded entirely remotely during the pandemic, it proved that the collective spirit of jazz can withstand a whole lot.” (Rolling Stone, Best Jazz Albums of 2020)

"... listening to it you’d swear they were all in a single room, singing and playing together. It’s really beautiful." (Stereogum)

"... as the individuals wail, moan but also coalesce in listening to each other's songs, so a collective sound gels from the disparate parts. Apart from each other but still a part of the voices of all." (Jazzwise)

Dave Douglas, trumpet
Ryan Keberle, trombone
Fay Victor, voice
Camila Meza, voice, guitar
Jorge Roeder, bass
Rudy Royston, drums

Dave Douglas
with over 60 recordings as a leader and many more with other groups, Dave Douglas is well established as the leading trumpeter of his generation. If further proof is needed, Douglas has been recognized as Trumpet Player of the Year by the DownBeat Critics Poll thirteen times since 2000.

Douglas’s musical development started when he began playing the piano at the age of five, then trombone at seven before discovering the trumpet at nine. He learned jazz harmony in high school and began playing improvised music as an exchange student in Barcelona, Spain. From 1981 to 1983 he studied in Boston, first at the Berklee School of Music, then the New England Conservatory. He moved to New York City in 1984, where he attended New York University and studied with Carmine Caruso.

In 1987, he toured Europe with Horace Silver. According to 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.” Douglas continued to his evolve as a trumpeter, notably in Don Byron’s klezmer band and John Zorn’s quartet, Masada, but also with many more including Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Myra Melford, Han Bennink, Joe Lovano, Martial Solal, Vincent Herring — all musicians who Douglas credits with having a profound influence on his career as a musician.

Douglas’s transcendent style and sweeping vision, however, is most evident when he plays as leader in the many ensembles and bands he’s assembled over the years. Every project presents a new creative challenge as the trumpet mixes and blends with ever changing instrumentation and structures — from sparing with Joe Lovano’s saxophone in the co-led Sound Prints, to exploring the shape note tradition with pianist Uri Caine on Present Joys, pushing brass music traditions with the Brass Ecstasy quintet, to merging his trumpet with Shigeto’s electronic music.

As Larry Blumenfeld wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Despite its range, Mr. Douglas’s music sounds of one piece, connected most clearly by his trumpet playing, which can be sweet and pure or crackling and pungent, precisely stated or smeared toward wildness.”

Booklet for Overcome