It’s taken Little five years to find his way back to the studio—he’s been too busy with projects that have taken the San Francisco native in diverse directions. As a committed jazz educator, Little directs the Twin Cities Jazz Workshop, which provides learning and performance opportunities for young area musicians; he has also been selected to participate in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s “Artist in the Schools” program. For the past four years, Little has collaborated and toured with Italian pianist Giacomo Aula, including appearances at the 2004 Twin Cities Hot Jazz Festival and tours and master classes in the US and Italy. And last fall, Little initiated a new ensemble, Seven Steps to Havana, dedicated to integrating Cuban rhythms with post bop harmonies.

Photo by Andrea Canter

But Little remains thoroughly committed to his quartet, and this weekend at the Artists Quarter in St. Paul, he will celebrate the release of The Phoenix (Tesca Records). Only sublime bassist Jeff Bailey remains of the original rhythm section that recorded Subtle Differences. Kevin Washington has more than ably assumed percussion duties, while the recording (and early summer gig at the Dakota) features Aula; frequent collaborator Mary Louise Knutson will fill the piano chair this weekend at the AQ.

The Musicians

With degrees in political science and French from Macalester College in St. Paul, Doug Little went on to study saxophone with Joe Lovano and Cuban music at the National School of Arts in Havana. Co-founder of the popular Twin Cities band Motion Poets in 1991, Little has received support from the American Composers Forum (as their youngest and only jazz artist to receive the McKnight scholarship), the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, the Minneapolis Arts Commission, and the Bush Foundation. He has taught master classes at the Oberlin Conservatory, Northern Illinois University, University of Missouri, Drake University, and Amherst College, as well as serving as an instructor through the TC Jazz Workshop.

Photo by Andrea Canter

A native of Lagonegro, Italy now living in Berlin, pianist Giacomo Aula has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Lee Konitz, Ernie Watts, James Newton and many of Europe’s hottest jazz artists. In addition to tours in Europe and the U.S., he has performed at major jazz festivals and venues including Vicenza Jazz 2000, Estate Musicale Sorrentina, The Walker Arts Center, Reutlingen JazzTage, and Catanzaro Jazz Fest. He has released one recording as leader, The Looking Glass Session (Soulsearch, 2001).

Long-time member of the Doug Little Quartet, St. Paul native Jeff Bailey has played acoustic and electric bass with world-renowned artists including Jack McDuff, Terrell Stafford, Bill Carrothers, Eric Kamau Gravatt, Dave Pietro, Hannibal Peterson, Fred Ho, Craig Taborn, and James Carter. A founding member of Motion Poets, Bailey has also released three CDs on the Lifescape label and is a member of the Jazz Is Now! Orchestra.

Photo by Andrea Canter

Drummer Kevin Washington was only five years old when he played his first jazz festival in his native Detroit. Son of musicians Faye and Donald Washington, Kevin studied at the New School for Social Research in New York and taught at the Harlem School for the Arts. He has performed with Reggie Workman, Roscoe Mitchell, Rodney Whitaker, Bob Hurst, Antonio Hart, Chico Freeman, James Carter, Fred Wesley, Roy Brooks, Marcus Belgrave, David Murray Big Band, Fred Ho, Craig Taborn, and James Newton. Locally he works with Moveable Feast, Bruce Henry, and the Jazz Is Now! Orchestra as well as the Doug Little Quartet and Seven Steps to Havana.

Photo by Andrea Canter

Wausau, WI native Mary Louise Knutson (who fills in for Aula at the AQ) cut her performance teeth playing keyboards with such notables as Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Slide Hampton, Von Freeman, and Billy Hart. A former jazz instructor at Carleton College, today she conducts master classes and often provides keyboard support for local divas Connie Evingson and Debbie Duncan (with whom she will tour Italy this fall), and the JazzMN Big Band, as well as the Doug Little Quartet. Her own trio (usually with Gordy Johnson on bass and Phil Hey on drums) is a popular act at Twin Cities and other midwest venues. Among a number of honors, this past spring Knutson was one of five finalists for the first-ever Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Piano Competition at Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

The Recording

The Phoenix (recorded in June 2004 at Wild Sound Studios), like Little’s earlier recording, is largely a presentation of his original tunes, with one each from Aula and Washington and the opening track cover of Gismonti’s “Frevo.” Talented on multiple reeds including flute and tenor sax, Little plays alto throughout save the aptly named “Tainted Tango,” which features his bass clarinet.

Overall this recording is not an explosive encounter but one that puts melody and harmony above pyrotechnics—and effectively so. The opening track (“Frevo”) is the most rambunctious while the closing selection (“Sigh Over Cy”) may be the most introspective; in between there’s ballad and tango, funk and canzone.