Spark of Being

Last updated

Spark of Being is a 3-disc box set of music written by Dave Douglas and performed by his electric band, Keystone. Written for the Bill Morrison film by the same name, Spark of Being was commissioned by Stanford University and released by Douglas's Greenleaf Music record label in 2010.

Contents

Background

Stanford University commissioned Dave Douglas to write a soundtrack for Bill Morrison's Frankenstein film. [1]

Recording and music

The musicians were part of Douglas's established sextet known as Keystone. [1] In the studio, Douglas encouraged improvisation, so that he would have enough material to edit for release. [1] The music "makes use of the library of sounds at Stanford University's computer music department, which DJ Olive weaves into the live palette of keyboard, bass, drums and Douglas himself on trumpet". [2]

Release and reception

The Spark of Being set was released by Greenleaf Music on September 21, 2010. [3] Greenleaf also issued the three CDs separately: [3] Spark of Being: Soundtrack, which was from the film; Spark of Being: Expand; and Spark of Being: Burst. [1] The first was issued on June 22, 2010; the second was released on September 6 of the same year. [4] All were released by Greenleaf Music, which issued the set of 3 CDs

The Daily Telegraph's reviewer wrote: "The combination of poetic suggestiveness, musical invention and instrumental brilliance is a marvel, and all the more effective for being understated." [2] The JazzTimes reviewer wrote that "Douglas has composed tunes that could work with any instrumentation, and the samples are an extra flavoring – not a gimmick the whole thing depends upon". [1]

Track listing

Disc 1: Soundtrack

  1. Creature Theme, 7:08
  2. Spark Of Being, 3:45
  3. Observer, 4:02
  4. Travelogue, 7:24
  5. Prologue, 4:27
  6. Tree Ring Circus, 6:29
  7. Creature And Friend, 2:56
  8. Is It You?, 2:43
  9. Chroma, 7:53
  10. Observer Claymation, 3:51
  11. Observer Animation, 1:02
  12. Split Personality, 6:21
  13. Creature Alone, 1:40

Disc 2: Expand

  1. Spark Of Being, 3:44
  2. Creature, 7:33
  3. Tree Ring Circus, 5:42
  4. Observer, 4:03
  5. Chroma, 7:42
  6. Travelogue, 7:56
  7. Prologue, 5:52

Disc 3: Burst

  1. Leaving London, 4:26
  2. Creature Code, 5:02
  3. The Growing Tree, 4:40
  4. Vitalism, 7:20
  5. Creature Discomfort, 8:08
  6. Split Personality Infinitive, 7:42
  7. Tree Ring Vamp, 2:14
  8. Travelogue (Complete), 7:24
  9. Leaving London Reprise, 1:58
  10. Creature Theme (Closure), 7:00

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Dave Douglas is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator. His career includes more than fifty recordings as a leader and more than 500 published compositions. His ensembles include the Dave Douglas Quintet; Sound Prints, a quintet co-led with saxophonist Joe Lovano; Uplift, a sextet with bassist Bill Laswell; Present Joys with pianist Uri Caine and Andrew Cyrille; High Risk, an electronic ensemble with Shigeto, Jonathan Aaron, and Ian Chang; and Engage, a sextet with Jeff Parker, Tomeka Reid, Anna Webber, Nick Dunston, and Kate Gentile.

DJ Olive

DJ Olive is an American disc jockey and turntablist. He is known for producing music generally in the electronic genre, with strong influences of dub, and free improvisation styles. He is widely credited with coining of the term "Illbient" in 1994. He was a founding member of the immersionist group Lalalandia Entertainment Research Corporation in 1991.

Marcus Strickland

Marcus Strickland is an American jazz soprano, alto, and tenor saxophonist who grew up in Miami, Florida. Down Beat magazine's Critics' Poll named him 'Rising Star on Tenor Saxophone' in 2010 and 'Rising Star on Soprano Saxophone' in 2008. JazzTimes magazine's Reader's Poll named him 'Best New Artist' in 2006. He placed third in the 2002 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition.

<i>Live in Europe</i> (Dave Douglas album) 1997 live album by Dave Douglas

Live in Europe is the sixth album by trumpeter Dave Douglas, his first live album, and the third to feature his Tiny Bell Trio. It was released on the Arabesque label in 1997 and features performances by Douglas, Brad Schoeppach and Jim Black.

<i>Mountain Passages</i> 2005 studio album by Dave Douglas

Mountain Passages is the 23rd album by trumpeter Dave Douglas and the first released on his own Greenleaf Music label in 2005. It features performances by Douglas, Michael Moore, Marcus Rojas, Peggy Lee, and Dylan van der Schyff.

<i>Keystone</i> (album) 2005 studio album by Dave Douglas

Keystone is the twenty-fifth album by trumpeter Dave Douglas. It was released on the Greenleaf label in 2005 and features performances by Douglas, Jamie Saft, DJ Olive, Gene Lake, Marcus Strickland, and Brad Jones. The music was written to accompany Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle's silent films and a DVD containing the complete film Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916) and a collage of Arbuckle's scenes set to "Just Another Murder" is included with the album.

<i>Live at the Jazz Standard</i> 2007 live album by Dave Douglas Quintet

Live at the Jazz Standard is the 27th album by trumpeter Dave Douglas and the first to feature him exclusively on cornet. It was released on the Greenleaf label in 2007 and features live performances by Douglas, Donny McCaslin, Uri Caine, James Genus and Clarence Penn. Douglas recorded his Quintet's performances at the Jazz Standard nightclub in New York City in December 2006 making all twelve complete sets available for download within days of the performances. This 2-CD set was distilled from those concerts.

<i>Moonshine</i> (Dave Douglas album) 2007 live album by Dave Douglas & Keystone

Moonshine is the 28th album by trumpeter Dave Douglas. It was released on the Greenleaf label in 2007 and features a live performance recorded in a studio in front of an audience by Douglas, Adam Benjamin, DJ Olive, Gene Lake, Marcus Strickland, and Brad Jones.

Greenleaf Music

Greenleaf Music is an independent music company directed by American trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas. In addition to recordings on CD, vinyl, and digital formats, Greenleaf Music houses sheet music and podcasts, as well as supporting tours by its community of artists.

Live at the Bimhuis Set 1 & 2 is a 2005 live album by jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas. The album was recorded at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam and released by Greenleaf Music.

<i>Spirit Moves</i> 2009 studio album by Dave Douglas

Spirit Moves is the 29th album by trumpeter Dave Douglas. It was released on the Greenleaf Music label in 2009 and features Douglas band Brass Ecstasy.

<i>A Single Sky</i> 2009 studio album by Dave Douglas

A Single Sky is the 30th album by Dave Douglas. It was released on the Greenleaf Music label in 2009 and features Douglas with Grammy-winning arranger/conductor Jim McNeely and the Frankfurt Radio Bigband. It is notable for being Dave Douglas's first big band album.

Adam Benjamin is an American jazz keyboardist and composer. He is a founding member of Kneebody, and leads an active career as a performer and writer. He has been recognized as a Rising Star in Jazz by Downbeat Magazine.

<i>United Front: Brass Ecstasy at Newport</i> 2011 live album by Dave Douglas

United Front: Brass Ecstasy at Newport is a live album by trumpeter Dave Douglas' Brass Ecstasy released on the Greenleaf Music label in 2011.

<i>Time Travel</i> (Dave Douglas album) 2013 studio album by Dave Douglas Quintet

Time Travel is an album by Dave Douglas' Quintet which was released in April 2013 on the Greenleaf Music label.

<i>Present Joys</i> 2014 studio album by Dave Douglas & Uri Caine

Present Joys is a studio album by trumpeter Dave Douglas and pianist Uri Caine which was released in July 2014 on the Greenleaf Music label. The album follows Douglas' 2012 exploration of hymns, Be Still, by including four songs from the Sacred Harp songbook.

<i>Three Views</i> 2011 compilation album by Dave Douglas

Three Views is a 3CD compilation album by trumpeter Dave Douglas which combines three volumes originally released as music downloads on Greenleaf Music's Portable Series in 2011 and features Douglas' Brass Ecstasy, a Quintet with Ravi Coltrane and Vijay Iyer, and the So Percussion Ensemble.

<i>High Risk</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Dave Douglas

High Risk is an album by trumpeter Dave Douglas that was released in June 2015 on Douglas' Greenleaf Music label.

<i>Brazen Heart</i> 2015 studio album by Dave Douglas

Brazen Heart is a studio album by American trumpeter Dave Douglas which was released in October 2015 on Douglas' own Greenleaf Music label. The album bears a dedication to Douglas’s older brother, Damon, who died in June 2015 after a long fight with cancer.

<i>Dark Territory</i> (album) 2016 studio album by Dave Douglas

Dark Territory is a studio album by trumpeter Dave Douglas which was released in June 2016 on Douglas' Greenleaf Music label. The album is named after Fred Kaplan's book Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War released in 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Himes, Geoffrey (January 1, 2011). "Dave Douglas & Keystone: Spark of Being". JazzTimes. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Hewett, Ivan (October 8, 2010). "Dave Douglas & Keystone: Spark of Being, Expand, CD Review". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Douglas, Dave (September 21, 2020). "Spark Of Being [3CD]". greenleafmusic.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  4. ↑ Jurek, Thom. "Dave Douglas / Keystone: Spark of Being". AllMusic . Retrieved April 4, 2020.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.