SOUNDTRACK: DONNY McCASLIN-Tiny Desk Concert #590 (January 9, 2017).
Donny McCaslin’s band was responsible for the jazzy music that propelled David Bowie’s final album. As the Tiny Desk blurb says:
David Bowie had long wanted to make a record with a jazz band, and on Jan. 8 of last year, he realized his dream with the release of Blackstar. Two days later, he was gone. Donny McCaslin’s band helped him make that record, and now, a year later, we pay tribute to Bowie and Blackstar by bringing McCaslin’s band
As a bandleader and sax player, [McCaslin’s] put out a dozen albums, the most recent of which is Beyond Now, with musicians Tim Lefebvre on bass, drummer Mark Guiliana and keyboardist Jason Lindner.
Beyond Now was recorded after Blackstar, features a few Bowie covers and stretches the band’s own usual boundaries. For this Tiny Desk concert, you can hear an extraordinary group playing extraordinary music — including an instrumental version of “Lazarus,” from Blackstar.
The band plays three pieces. “Shake Loose” is 7 and a half minutes. The music is great behind the sax—dramatic and interesting. I think I just don’t care for the sound of saxophones as much these days, because I love the bass thumping and the great sounds from the keys but the soloing doesn’t excite me. I love in the middle of the song that there are really cool spacey sound on the keys. And the whole middle section where it’s the keys playing weirdo stuff and the drums keeping a groovy jazz beat–that’s awesome.
So I may be the only person in America who has not heard the whole of Blackstar. I actually don’t even really like the one song I did hear (I don’t care for the jazzy parts). So I can’t compare this six-minute instrumental version to the original of “Lazarus.” I love that the keyboard is playing a very convincing grungy guitar sound. I’m not sure if the sax is doing a vocal line or just playing around, but I love the music for this song a lot.
“Glory” is about the glory of the creation of the beautiful world that we live in “that will hopefully be intact as we move forward.” This is an 11 minute song with all kinds of great swirling keyboard sounds. I really like this song—the bass and keys together are great. And either I’ve grown more used to the sax or its mixed a little lower, but it works so much better with the music. About three minutes in there’s a lengthy trippy mid-70s Pink Floyd echoing synth solo. Which is pretty cool. So overall, I really enjoyed this set. And maybe I need to go give Blackstar a listen.
[READ: March 25, 2016] Around
I really enjoyed Phelan’s Bluffton. The story was interesting and I really enjoyed Phelan’s artwork–subtle with delicate coloring and very thin, expressive lines.
This book also contains Phelan’ wonderful artwork and the story (or stories) are also really interesting. For this is a book about three remarkable journeys around the world.
Phelan gives a fictionalized (but accurate) history of the adventures of Thomas Stevens (Wheelman in 1884), Nellie Bly (Girl Reporter 1889) and Joshua Slocum (Mariner 1895).
I hadn’t heard of the two men and I found their stories quiet fascinating. I knew of Bly’s journey but I didn’t know all of the details and I found it equally interesting. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 