Freak In | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2003 | |||
Recorded | July–December 2002 | |||
Genre | ||||
Label | RCA Bluebird | |||
Producer | Dave Douglas | |||
Dave Douglas chronology | ||||
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Freak In is the 20th album by trumpeter Dave Douglas. It was released on the RCA Bluebird label in 2003 and features performances by Douglas, Jamie Saft, Marc Ribot, Karsh Kale, Joey Baron, Romero Lubambo, Brad Jones, Ikue Mori, Seamus Blake, Chris Speed, Craig Taborn, Michael Sarin, with Stephanie Stone contributing vocals on one track. [1]
Following his post-bop effort Infinite (2002), Freak In saw Douglas move into an abstract electronic jazz direction, arranging tunes and sound collages from his sextet using computer software with Saft. [2] The album features "early electro-acoustic experimentation". [3] The jazz sound is accompanied by Kale's tabla beats, Mori's "weird sounds" and Ribot's avant-garde guitar work. [2]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [4] |
The Allmusic review by Dave Lynch awarded the album 4 stars stating "As both player and sole composer, Douglas stands as the unifying force, free to approach the full possibilities of each tune individually, but not at the expense of the overall album's coherence. Quite literally crackling with energy and dense with ideas from the first to the hidden 12th track, Freak In is one of the strongest CDs of his extraordinary career". [4] On All About Jazz Matt Rand stated "For years, Douglas has been involved in all sorts of breaking down and building back up of existing structure. But now Douglas has refined his approach, and has made a record that defines its own style". [5] A reviewer for CMJ New Music Monthly emphasised the unpredictability of Douglas' career and highlighted the "downright abstract" title track, and the "darkly compelling" "Hot Club of the 13th Street", while adding that "Maya" features a "modern angular groove". [2]
Masada is a musical group with rotating personnel led by American saxophonist and composer John Zorn since the early 1990s.
Ikue Mori, also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022.
Karsh Kale is an Indian-American musician born in England. Known primarily for his experimental tabla playing within electronic music contexts, Kale's career has seen him take on roles of an Indian classical tabla player, singer, songwriter, film and TV score composer and DJ. He is considered a pioneer of the Asian Underground genre, bringing elements of Indian music to Electronica and Dance. His career highlights include touring as the supergroup Tabla Beat Science, 6 solo studio records from 1999, the seminal 2005 album "Breathing Under Water" with Anoushka Shankar, scoring and production for the 2019 Bollywood smash hit "Gully Boy", curating 6 acclaimed songs for the Indian Coke Studio in 2012, amongst many others. Kale is also popular for his eclectic collaborations with Sting, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, U2, Norah Jones, Yoko Ono, and Herbie Hancock to name a few.
Craig Marvin Taborn is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was influenced at an early stage by a wide range of music, including by the freedom expressed in recordings of free jazz and contemporary classical music.
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