Douglas R. Ewart (born 13 September 1946 in Kingston,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

) is a Jamaican multi-instrumentalist and instrument builder. He plays sopranino and

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

s, bassoon,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

bamboo flute The bamboo flute, especially the bone flute, is one of the oldest musical instruments known. Examples of Paleolithic bone flutes have survived for more than 40,000 years, to be discovered by archaeologists. While the oldest flutes currently kn ...

s ('' shakuhachi'', ''

ney The ''ney'' ( fa, Ney/نی, ar, Al-Nāy/الناي), is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Persian music and Arabic music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played continually ...

'', and

panpipes A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...

), and didgeridoo; as well as Rastafarian hand drums (nyabingi, repeater, and bass). Ewart emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in June 1963 (coming to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) and became associated with the

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devot ...

(AACM) in 1967, studying with

Joseph Jarman Joseph Jarman (September 14, 1937 – January 9, 2019) was an American jazz musician, composer, poet, and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He was one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and a member of the ...

and Roscoe Mitchell. He served as that organization's president from 1979 to 1986. He has performed or recorded with

J. D. Parran J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer specializing in jazz and free improvisation. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxophone, as well as the E-flat clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, ...

Muhal Richard Abrams Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the Uni ...

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little ...

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...

Alvin Curran Alvin Curran (born December 13, 1938) is an American composer, performer, improviser, sound artist, and writer. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and lives and works in Rome, Italy. He is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard ...

, Anthony Davis,

Robert Dick Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist. Life He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good ...

Von Freeman Earle Lavon "Von" Freeman Sr. (October 3, 1923 – August 11, 2012) was an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, Freeman as a young child was exposed to jazz. His father, George, a city policeman, was a c ...

, Joseph Jarman,

Amina Claudine Myers Amina Claudine Myers (born March 21, 1942) is an American jazz pianist, organist, vocalist, composer, and arranger. Biography Born in Blackwell, Arkansas, "Myers was brought up largely by her great-aunt, a schoolteacher, and her great-uncle, a c ...

, Roscoe Mitchell,

James Newton James W. Newton (born May 1, 1953) is an American jazz and classical flutist. Biography He was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. From his earliest years, James Newton grew up immersed in the sounds of African-American music, inclu ...

Rufus Reid Rufus Reid (born February 10, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer. Biography Reid was raised in Sacramento, California, where he played the trumpet through junior high and high school. Upon graduation ...

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for ''Ten Free ...

, Cecil Taylor,

Richard Teitelbaum Richard Lowe Teitelbaum (May 19, 1939 – April 9, 2020) was an American composer, keyboardist, and improvisor. A student of Allen Forte, Mel Powell, and Luigi Nono, he was known for his live electronic music and synthesizer performances. He was ...

Henry Threadgill Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...

, Hamid Drake,

Don Byron Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer. Biography His mother w ...

Malachi Favors Maghostut Malachi Favors (August 22, 1927 – January 30, 2004) was an American jazz bassist who played with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography "Favors's tendency to dissemble about his age was a well-known source of mirth to fellow musicians of his g ...

, and

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexica ...

. In 1992, Ewart collaborated with Canadian artist Stan Douglas on the video installation ''Hors-champs'' which was featured at

documenta 9 DOCUMENTA IX was the ninth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 13 June and 20 September 1992 in Kassel, Germany. The artistic director was Jan Hoet in collaboration with Bart de Baere, Denys ...

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

, Germany. The installation features Ewart in an improvisation of Albert Ayler's "Spirits Rejoice" with musicians

, Kent Carter and Oliver Johnson. He has lived in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

since 1990. His father, Tom, was a

cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French ''nompere'' meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricket ...

Discography

As leader

* Douglas R. Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir: ''Red Hills'' (Aarawak, 1983) * Douglas R. Ewart and Inventions: ''Bamboo Forest'' (Aarawak, 1990) * Douglas R. Ewart: ''Bamboo Meditations At Banff'' (Aarawak, 1994) * Douglas R. Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir: ''Angles of Entrance'' (Aarawak, 1998) * Douglas R. Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir: ''Newbeings'' (Aarawak, 2001) * Douglas R. Ewart: ''Songs Of Sunlife - Inside The Didjeridu'' (Innova, 2003) * Douglas R. Ewart and Inventions: ''Velvet Fire: Dedicated to Baba Fred Anderson'' (Aarawak, 2009) * Nyahbingi Drum Choir: ''Velvet Drum Meditations'' (Aarawak, 2010)

As sideman

With

* ''

Lifea Blinec ''Lifea Blinec'' is an album by Muhal Richard Abrams which was released on the Arista Novus label in 1978 and features performances by Abrams, Joseph Jarman, Douglas Ewart, Amina Claudine Myers and Thurman Barker. Reception The Allmusic review ...

'' (Arista/Novus, 1978) With Spencer Barefield and

Tani Tabbal Tani Tabbal is a jazz drummer who has worked with Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, and Cassandra Wilson. Biography By the age of 14 Tabbal was playing professionally, performing with Oscar Brown Jr. In his teens he also performed with Phil Cohr ...

* ''Beneath Detroit- The Creative Arts Collective Concerts At The Detroit Institute Of Arts 1979-1992'' (Geodesic, 2010) With

* '' For Trio'' (Arista, 1978) With Jean-Luc Cappozzo,

Joëlle Léandre Joëlle Léandre (born 12 September 1951 in Aix-en-Provence, France) is a French double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation. In the field of contemporary music, she has performed with Pierre Boulez's E ...

, Bernard Santacruz,

Michael Zerang Michael Zerang (born November 16, 1958) is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. Career Zerang's parents both emigrated to the United States from the Middle East; his father is Iranian and his mother Iraqi.Chico Freeman Chico Freeman (born Earl Lavon Freeman Jr.; July 17, 1949) is a modern jazz tenor saxophonist and trumpeter and son of jazz saxophonist Von Freeman. He began recording as lead musician in 1976 with ''Morning Prayer'', won the New York Jazz Award ...

* '' Morning Prayer'' (Whynot, 1976) With

Dennis González Dennis González, often credited Dennis Gonzalez (August 15, 1954March 15, 2022), was an American jazz trumpeter, artist, and educator from Texas. He hosted ''Miles Out'' on KERA-FM for over twenty years. Early life González was born in Abil ...

* ''

Namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

'' (Silkheart, 1987) With

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

, Roscoe Mitchell,

Adam Rudolph Adam Rudolph (born September 12, 1955) is a jazz composer and percussionist performing in the post-bop and world fusion media. In 1988, Rudolph met jazz musician Yusef Lateef, and the two would go on to collaborate and perform together for t ...

* ''Voice Prints'' (Meta Records, 2013) With

* ''Shadowgraph'' (Black Saint, 1978) * ''

Homage to Charles Parker ''Homage to Charles Parker'' is an album by American jazz trombonist/composer George Lewis recorded in 1979 for the Italian Black Saint label.

'' (Black Saint, 1979) * ''Jila Save! Mon. - The Imaginary Suite'' (Black Saint, 1979) * ''Chicago Slow Dance'' (Lovely Music, 1981) With Roscoe Mitchell * '' L-R-G / The Maze / S II Examples'' (Nessa Records, 1978) * '' Sketches from Bamboo'' (Moers Music, 1979) With

* '' Budding of a Rose'' (Moers Music, 1979) With

* '' X-75 Volume 1'' (Arista/Novus, 1979)

References

External links

Douglas Ewart official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewart, Douglas 1946 births Living people Bass clarinetists American bassoonists Shakuhachi players American musical instrument makers Musicians from Minneapolis Didgeridoo players Jamaican jazz musicians Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican emigrants to the United States 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians 21st-century clarinetists 20th-century flautists 21st-century flautists