“Blues In The Present Tense” features Branford Marsalis, Eric Revis and Jeff “Tain” Watts
Doug Wamble
News
“Blues In The Present Tense” features Branford Marsalis, Eric Revis and Jeff “Tain” Watts
“A one-man compendium of avant Americana.” – The New Yorker
As a child of Memphis, TN, Doug Wamble has always been surrounded by a vast musical and cultural landscape. From listening to his mother play piano in their Baptist church to his grandfather singing cowboy songs, murder ballads and old time gospel favorites while strumming his guitar, Doug has been immersed in music for his entire life.
After completing a Bachelors in Jazz Guitar from the University of North Florida and a Masters of Music from Northwestern, Doug decided to head to New York to seek a career as a guitarist and composer. Appearing on bandstands and recordings with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Norah Jones, Steven Bernstein, Courtney Love, Madeleine Peyroux, and Cassandra Wilson, Doug was making a name for himself in the jazz world when he was signed to Branford Marsalis’ label, Marsalis Music/Rounder Records. Doug released two critically acclaimed records "Country Libations" and "Bluestate", and two singer/songwriter albums on E1 records, "Doug Wamble" and "Fast as Years, Slow As Days", the latter being on his own imprint, Halcyonic Records.
Building on his history with Wynton Marsalis, which led to guitar contributions to several Ken Burns documentaries for PBS such as "Prohibition," "The War" and "Unforgivable Blackness", Doug began working as a composer for Burns’ Florentine Films, collaborating with Ken, his daughter Sarah, and David McMahon for the tragic film "The Central Park Five" in 2012. Wamble contributed original score pieces for Burns’" Vietnam", "Jackie Robinson", "The Dust Bowl", "The Roosevelts", "Eastlake Meadows", and "Muhammed Ali." In 2022, Doug scored his first dramatic feature, "The Subject", starring Aunjunue Ellis and Jason Biggs, directed by fellow Memphian-turned-New Yorker Lanie Zipoy.
Doug has been the album producer and touring musical director/ guitarist for his wife, Morgan James, since 2012 and since 2016 has been on faculty as an ensemble director and guitar instructor at The Juilliard School.
In May 2022, Doug went in to the studio to record his first album of original acoustic music, drawing on his early love of Ornette Coleman and Dewey Redman blended with his deep connection to the Delta blues and gospel music of Blind Willie Johnson and Son House, as well as troubadour and resonator guitar enthusiast, the late Chris Whitley. Joined by the legendary rhythm section of Eric Revis and Jeff “Tain” Watts and the inimitable Branford Marsalis on saxophones, "Blues In The Present Tense" will be released in October 2022.
As a child of Memphis, TN, Doug Wamble has always been surrounded by a vast musical and cultural landscape. From listening to his mother play piano in their Baptist church to his grandfather singing cowboy songs, murder ballads and old time gospel favorites while strumming his guitar, Doug has been immersed in music for his entire life.
After completing a Bachelors in Jazz Guitar from the University of North Florida and a Masters of Music from Northwestern, Doug decided to head to New York to seek a career as a guitarist and composer. Appearing on bandstands and recordings with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Norah Jones, Steven Bernstein, Courtney Love, Madeleine Peyroux, and Cassandra Wilson, Doug was making a name for himself in the jazz world when he was signed to Branford Marsalis’ label, Marsalis Music/Rounder Records. Doug released two critically acclaimed records "Country Libations" and "Bluestate", and two singer/songwriter albums on E1 records, "Doug Wamble" and "Fast as Years, Slow As Days", the latter being on his own imprint, Halcyonic Records.
Building on his history with Wynton Marsalis, which led to guitar contributions to several Ken Burns documentaries for PBS such as "Prohibition," "The War" and "Unforgivable Blackness", Doug began working as a composer for Burns’ Florentine Films, collaborating with Ken, his daughter Sarah, and David McMahon for the tragic film "The Central Park Five" in 2012. Wamble contributed original score pieces for Burns’" Vietnam", "Jackie Robinson", "The Dust Bowl", "The Roosevelts", "Eastlake Meadows", and "Muhammed Ali." In 2022, Doug scored his first dramatic feature, "The Subject", starring Aunjunue Ellis and Jason Biggs, directed by fellow Memphian-turned-New Yorker Lanie Zipoy.
Doug has been the album producer and touring musical director/ guitarist for his wife, Morgan James, since 2012 and since 2016 has been on faculty as an ensemble director and guitar instructor at The Juilliard School.
In May 2022, Doug went in to the studio to record his first album of original acoustic music, drawing on his early love of Ornette Coleman and Dewey Redman blended with his deep connection to the Delta blues and gospel music of Blind Willie Johnson and Son House, as well as troubadour and resonator guitar enthusiast, the late Chris Whitley. Joined by the legendary rhythm section of Eric Revis and Jeff “Tain” Watts and the inimitable Branford Marsalis on saxophones, "Blues In The Present Tense" will be released in October 2022.
DOUG WAMBLE
PRODUCER
SELECTED SIDEMAN WORK
Wamble's new recording proclaims that he is for real. The music is fueled with a touch of soul and spirituality...Mark F. Turner AllAboutJazz.com
For a jazz guitarist, Doug Wamble is one hell of a soul man -- not just his playing, but his writing, and especially his voice, which lies somewhere between Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. His background is evident in some of the chords he uses, but he hides it well, and the songs come across as lovely soul, as on the delicious "Sweet Return to Madness" and "It May Be a Dream," where the violin and voice of Carrie Rodriguez add some lovely delicacy to the proceedings. Wamble's guitar work takes a back seat for some of the disc, although he takes off on slide on the gospel-flavored "Bitter Angels" and works with Charlie Hunter on the opener, "Think About It All," while the slow build of "Oh Heaven," with its piano backdrop, offers a superb frame for his restrained solo. But this is an album that's about the song, not playing technique, and Wamble shows himself to be a songwriter of true talent. After all that soul, the jazz of "I Needn't Try," although definitely displaying Wamble's roots, stands out like a sore thumb. It all closes with a cover of Fiona Apple's "I Know" that returns Wamble to acoustic guitar, his natural instrument, giving a spare, aching version of the song. It's a soft, ideal closer to a lovingly crafted disc.Chris Nickson All Music Guide
...Country Libations is, so far, the debut recording of the year. Thoroughly integrating rural blues, gospel, swing, and free jazz into an organic musical conception that owes little to any model, this acoustic guitarist, singer, and composer is a one-man compendium of avant Americana.The New Yorker
...music that is as fascinating as it is idiosyncratic...Country Libations is an impressive introduction to a guitarists-singer-composer with a bright future.Don Heckman Los Angeles Times
...Mr. Wamble, the guitarist who has been heard with Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson and Steven Bernstein's Millenial Territory Orchestra, blends bebop, country, blues, gospel, soul and his own blue-eyed soul singing.The New York Times
...it's definitely good. Wamble, a young guitarist and singer, takes us on a soulful foray into the roots music from the Deep South.The Boston Globe
The constants throughout the disc are Wamble's razor-sharp yet honey-sweet baritone; the bluesy tone of his vintage hollow-body Gretsch guitar, recorded without a pickup; the tuneful quality of his original compositions; and the easygoing cohesion of a working ensemble.JazzTimes
...jazz, blues and gospel are equally important parts of what acoustic guitarist/singer Doug Wamble does on this promising debut album...he makes everything fit together on this unpredictable yet focused debut.AllMusicGuide
Merging blues, jazz and gospel with unimagined ease, Wamble has devised a unique style all the more impressive for its distinctive personal nature. These days, in particular, a rare, inclusive talent like this comes as nothing less than a gift.Steve Futterman Barnes and Noble
One of the unique aspects of (Doug) Wamble's style is that he plays strictly acoustic. In a post-Frisell/post-Scofield age in which young guitarists tend to load up on digital devices and all manner of foot pedals, that is rare indeed.
Bill MilkowskiJazzTimes
Bill Milkowski
Wamble's Tennessee Baptist infused tenor voice is as big as his guitar sound, and his band helped him create one of the most distinctive current conceptions in jazz.Jon Garelick Boston Phoenix
Wamble is a quadruple threat: accomplished singer-songwriter, eclectic composer, killer guitarist, and heady improviser. His second album, Bluestate, illuminates the broad well of influence from which he draws.Steve Futterman Barnes & Noble
Wamble seems ever intent on forging new ground while always retaining certain valuable aspects of jazz tradition.Matt Collar AllMusic.com
Wamble's new recording proclaims that he is for real. The music is fueled with a touch of soul and spirituality...Mark F. Turner AllAboutJazz.com
Bluestate is one of those breakout albums that brings startlingly to attention a musician who has developed a distinctive sound of his own, one that flows naturally from his personality and who he is. Bluestate is one of the unexpectedly enjoyable releases yet this year.Don Williamson Jazzreview.com
with Morgan James
Past Performances
(Which means we might play a song about Santa. Or Satan)
Doug's Albums
Other Recordings
Press Photos
MISCELLANEOUS SHOTS
DW ORGAN TRIO
Sledgehammer - DW Organ Trio
Memphis Blues - DW Organ Trio
Come Rain Or Come Shine - DW Organ Trio
On The Street Where You Live - DW Organ Trio
FILM SCORES
Doug Wamble- Film Composer
DOUG WAMBLE AND MINO CINELU
Doug Wamble and Mino Cinelu - In The Pines (excerpt)
Doug Wamble and Mino Cinelu - John The Revelator - YouTube
Doug Wamble and Mino Cinelu - My Blue Heaven
Doug Wamble and Mino Cinelu - Green Chimneys (Excerpt)
LIVE IN NYC WITH CHARLIE HUNTER AND BERNARD PURDIE
Love In Vain
Think About It All
Mary Don't You Weep
Memphis Tennessee
Mestre Tata
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
LIVE AT BONNAROO 2007
John The Revelator
From Whence I Came
WILLIAM FAULKNER PROJECT - "YOKNAPATAWPHA"
1 - Overture
2 - The House of DeSpain
3 - Frenchman's Bend/Beat Two
4 - Compson's Pasture
5 - The Cave
6 - Looking All Around
7 - One Lick Less
8 - Christmas' Burden
9 -Take This Poison
10 - To The Egress
Two Sleepy People
ODDS AND ENDS
I Got A Woman
Indian Summer
Waiting For A Train
The Heart Collector
My Love
The Artie Lange Show
Oleo
Blue Monk
Sweet Georgia Brown
Hard Times Come Again No More
Dark Cloud
Blue Monk
Tempted
Angel From Montgomery
Slide Selfie
THE LOOP LOFT
Can't Wait For Perfect
The Loop Loft All Stars - Live in NYC
Reason Refill Slide Guitar
Reason 6 ReFill Preview
Telecaster Sessions for Reason
Other Videos
Doug Wamble in Madison Square Park New York, NY