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Dezron Douglas: Atalaya

By Chris May
November 6, 2022
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Atalaya is Dezron Douglas' first full-length album leading a band in over four years. The bassist's recent sightings have whet the appetite rather than deliver the main course. Black Lion (Self Produced, 2018), made with a sextet, attracted good notices, but was an EP. His appearance on drummer

Makaya McCraven

drums
b.1983

" data-original-title="" title="">Makaya McCraven's Universal Beings (International Anthem, 2018) was confined to one side of that double album. Force Majeure (International Anthem, 2020) was a collection of livestream duets made with his partner, harpist

Brandee Younger

harp
b.1983

" data-original-title="" title="">Brandee Younger, during lockdown. Meditations On Faith (Self Produced, 2021) was a solo album. Live performances with

Ravi Coltrane

saxophone, tenor
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Ravi Coltrane, of whose quartet Douglas is a longstanding member, and the late

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders, have so far produced no recordings.

Atalaya takes up where Black Lion left off, though with a new lineup. The band is a quartet completed by saxophonist

Emilio Modeste

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Emilio Modeste, best known for his work with

Wallace Roney

trumpet
1960 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Wallace Roney during the trumpeter's final years, pianist and keyboardist

George Burton

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">George Burton and drummer

Joe Dyson Jr

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Dyson Jr. All ten tracks were composed by Douglas.

The music is lyrical but elemental, mostly in the pocket but sometimes borderline out-there and, without being revivalist, with a provenance that traces a direct line back to the hard-bop one might have heard in New York clubs such as the Village Vanguard on a good night during the mid 1960s. There is a representative taste on the YouTube clip below. The prevailing mood is fierce with the exception of one track, "Luna Moth," an elegy which Douglas wrote in memory of the avantist bassist

Mario Pavone

bass
1940 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Mario Pavone, who passed, aged 80 years, in 2021 (and who almost certainly would have played at the Vanguard in the mid 1960s). A strong and engaging album.

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Track Listing

Atalaya; Rose; Coyocan; Luna Moth; Wheeping Birch; Jones Beach; More Coffee Please; J Bird; Octopus; Folign.

Personnel

Dezron Douglas

bass

George Burton

piano

Joe Dyson Jr

drums

Emilio L Modeste

saxophone, tenor

Additional Instrumentation

Dezron Douglas: basses; George Burton: piano, Fender Rhodes; Joe Dyson Jr.: drums; Emilio Modeste: saxophones; Melvia Santa: vocals and percussion (5).

Album information

Title: Atalaya | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: International Anthem Recording Company

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