|
contents | jazz | |||||||||||||
| Donny McCaslin to Release New CD "Recommended Tools" Recommended Tools is the 7th release from 2008 Downbeat Rising Star Poll winner Donny McCaslin. It is also his first for Dave Douglas' Greenleaf Music label. “I asked Donny McCaslin to write and record the Great American Tenor Trio Record, half jokingly. Well, he delivered, with a stunning set of music," says Douglas about the release. McCaslin has been performing with Douglas' highly publicized Quintet since 2005, as well as receiving a Grammy nomination for his work with the Maria Schneider Orchestra in 2004. His latest release, Recommended Tools finds McCaslin for the first time working in a trio setting. With bassist Hans Glawischnig (Ray Barretto, Steffon Harris, Miguel Zenon) and drummer Jonathan Blake (Tom Harrell, Jaleel Shaw, Russell Malone), McCaslin has made this highly emotive format a vehicle for his virtuosic blowing and distinct compositional voice. McCaslin says regarding the project: “I've always loved the freedom that you have with a trio and how much room for expression there is in that context. I feel this is my strongest recording yet." Trenched in free-flowing arrangements with dynamic interplay between the band, this work harkens back to the classic trio recordings of Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson. And while a classic format, McCaslin retains his progressive approach and inventiveness citing Bill Frisell, Hermeto Pascal, Stravinsky and Messiaen as inspiration for these compositions. Standout tracks include burners “Recommended Tools," “Excursion," “The Champion," and the ballad, “Late Night Gospel." Recommended Tools is sure to top many best of lists for 2008. Born August 11, 1966, McCaslin grew up in in Santa Cruz, CA; inspired by his father, a pianist and vibraphonist, the young McCaslin started playing tenor saxophone at age twelve and quickly progressed, touring Europe and participating in the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival's California All-Star band while in high school. After attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he joined Berklee professor Gary Burton's quintet, with whom he toured for four years. McCaslin moved to New York, in 1991, working with bassist Eddie Gomez and then joining the group Steps Ahead, with whom he made the 1995 disc Vibe (NYC Records). McCaslin really began to turn heads with his solo work in larger ensembles - first Ken Schaphorst's big band, and subsequently the acclaimed Maria Schneider Orchestra, where his performance on the album Concert In The Garden received a Grammy nomination for “Best Jazz Instrumental Solo" in 2004. So much for McCaslin's “traditional" credentials, which provide the anchor for his much- admired work in more adventurous realms. Chief among these is the quartet Lan Xang (which evolved from an experimental partnership with fellow New York saxist David Binney), and the quintet led by the widely lionized trumpeter Dave Douglas, who added McCaslin to his band in 2005. Reviewing the Douglas Quintet in Jazz Times, Josef Woodard wrote of McCaslin: “He's a versatile player who moves easily between inside and outside musical zones . . . . [T]here's a fluidity and grace to his playing even when he's pushing at envelopes." Thanks to the high profile of the Dave Douglas Quintet, McCaslin in the last two years has achieved wider praise for the incisive twists and purposeful turns of his emotionally charged solos. But those qualities - along with his sometimes startling virtuosity, and his distinctive voice as a composer - had actually been on display for much of the previous decade, during which McCaslin proved himself a valued sideman on recordings by Danilo Perez, Luciana Souza, and performances with Tom Harrell, Brian Blade, John Pattitucci, The Mingus Band, and Pat Metheny. Meanwhile, previous albums under his own name have shown him subtly incorporating elements of Latin American music within adventurous jazz frameworks. In 2006, McCaslin received a Doris Duke grant for new jazz composition from Chamber Music America; In Pursuit comprises the results of that work. His new release Recommended Tools is the debut release for Donny McCaslin for Dave Douglas' label Greenleaf Music. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |