Meaning and Mystery is the twenty-sixth album by trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

er Dave Douglas

Dave Douglas (trumpeter)

Dave Douglas is an American jazz trumpeter and composer whose music derives from many non-jazz musical styles, including classical music, folk music from European countries and Klezmer. He has been a member of the experimental big band Orange Then Blue...

. It was released on the Greenleaf label in 2006 and features performances by Douglas, Donny McCaslin

Donny McCaslin

Donny McCaslin is an American jazz saxophonist.McCaslin's father was a vibraphonist, and he played in his father's ensemble at the age of twelve. He had his own group in high school which played three years at the Monterey Jazz Festival. He studied under Paul Contos and Brad Hecht, both of whom...

, Uri Caine

Uri Caine

Uri Caine is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer.-Early years:The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, Caine began playing piano at seven and studied with French jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer at 12. He later studied at the University of Pennsylvania where he came...

, James Genus

James Genus

James Genus is an American jazz bassist. He plays both electric bass guitar and upright bass and currently plays in the Saturday Night Live Band. Genus has performed as a session musician and sideman throughout his career, with an impressive list of artists with whom he has worked.Genus was born...

 and Clarence Penn.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 3½ stars stating "Meaning and Mystery is yet another album in the Douglas catalog that showcases his fine compositional and arrangement abilities, but more than this, it's the sound of a group in the process of continued restless development long after the bandmembers have found their collective voice".

Track listing

1. "Painter's Way" - 5:29
2. "Culture Wars" - 12:46
3. "The Sheik of Things to Come" - 7:45
4. "Blues to Steve Lacy" - 5:55
5. "Tim Bits" - 5:31
6. "Twombly Infinites" - 2:28
7. "Elk's Club" - 5:40
8. "Invocation" - 7:54
9. "The Team" - 7:46

All compositions by Dave Douglas

Personnel

• Dave Douglas
  Dave Douglas (trumpeter)
  Dave Douglas is an American jazz trumpeter and composer whose music derives from many non-jazz musical styles, including classical music, folk music from European countries and Klezmer. He has been a member of the experimental big band Orange Then Blue...
  
  : trumpet
• Donny McCaslin
  Donny McCaslin
  Donny McCaslin is an American jazz saxophonist.McCaslin's father was a vibraphonist, and he played in his father's ensemble at the age of twelve. He had his own group in high school which played three years at the Monterey Jazz Festival. He studied under Paul Contos and Brad Hecht, both of whom...
  
  : tenor saxophone
• Uri Caine
  Uri Caine
  Uri Caine is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer.-Early years:The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, Caine began playing piano at seven and studied with French jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer at 12. He later studied at the University of Pennsylvania where he came...
  
  : Fender Rhodes
• James Genus
  James Genus
  James Genus is an American jazz bassist. He plays both electric bass guitar and upright bass and currently plays in the Saturday Night Live Band. Genus has performed as a session musician and sideman throughout his career, with an impressive list of artists with whom he has worked.Genus was born...
  
  : bass
• Clarence Penn: drums, percussion