One of the things that makes Dave Douglas such a compelling voice in avant-garde jazz is his open-mindedness. The New York-based trumpeter has made a point of exposing himself to a wide variety of music ? everything from Lester Bowie's innovations to classical to East European folk ? and his willingness to be influenced by so many different things has made for a lot of fresh, adventurous albums. Witness is no exception; this 2001 release finds the jazzman being affected by classical as well as Middle Eastern and North African music. This CD offers a continuous nine-part suite that was inspired by different political figures in various parts of the world, although Douglas doesn't get on the microphone and turn Witness into an album of protest songs à la Joan Baez, Ice-T, Bob Marley, or Rage Against the Machine; in fact, the disc is mostly instrumental. Nonetheless, Douglas was thinking of these political figures when he did the composing, and t...