Dave Douglas: Devotion

Let’s stipulate that when the ever-astonishing drummer Andrew Cyrille is present on a recording session, it will be music well worth hearing, again and again. And so it is with Devotion, as Cyrille joins trumpeter Dave Douglas and pianist extraordinaire Uri Caine for a beautifully realized collection of original compositions by Douglas, plus the title track, an 1818 composition by Alexander Johnson. Douglas and Caine have been playing together for decades at this point. As a duo practice, they’ve been working with the Sacred Harp tradition of choral music. That’s where the Johnson tune comes from, but the influence permeates Douglas’ pieces. Especially potent in this regard is the solemn ode to Dizzy Gillespie that Douglas calls We Pray. As Douglas informs us in a brief liner note, most of the pieces are devoted to specific individuals, including a pair for Italian pianist Franco D’Andrea (the quick-moving D’Andrea and the smooth ballad Francis of Anthony) and another pair for influential pianist and composer Carla Bley (the poised and bouncy Miljøsang and False Allegiances, a dark tango). The trio situation is a particularly fertile setting for powerful improvising and interactivity, and this unit certainly makes the most of its considerable resources. With three musical masters committed and at the top of their games, Devotion is a very special recording, with some stunning music that is often touched by something like grace. Not to be missed. Greenleaf Music GRE-CD-1071; Dave Douglas (tpt) Uri Caine (p) Andrew Cyrille (d, perc); Astoria, NY, September 23, 2018; Curly/ D’Andrea/ Francis of Anthony/ Miljøsang/ False Allegiances/ Prefontaine/ Pacific/ Rose and Thorn/ We Pray/ Devotion; 54:21. www.greenleafmusic.com