News
Donny McCaslin - Electronica Tension
It’s a recipe that shouldn’t work, but Casting for Gravity is a fascinating listen that makes one wonder if visionaries like John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman might not have pursued this direction if they were born 60 years later. Preview by Mike Breen for CITYBEAT
Tracking a Body-Rattling Saxophone Storm
The biggest brace-yourself moment in Donny McCaslin’s first set at the Jazz Standard came at the last possible moment, near the end of the encore, when he uncorked an impromptu tenor saxophone coda that seemed to rattle through his body like a heavy wind. Nate Chinen for THE NEW YORK TIMES
Donny McCaslin Group at the Jazz Standard
For more than two decades, Donny McCaslin has relentlessly expanded his musical purview in a variety of ensemble settings. His tenth album, Casting for Gravity, takes his foray into the electric sphere one step further, openly drawing influences from electronica composers Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Venetian Snares. Review in Time Out
Impassioned, Daring, Cool and Contemporary
Give a listen to McCaslin's latest disc, Casting For Gravity, you'll hear music that's hard to top when it comes to impassioned, improvisatory daring, cool, contemporary textures and slamming, take-no-prisoners beats. A Review by Peter Hum for THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
McCaslin: Cool + Combustible
There’s plenty of the improvisation, immediacy and knottiness of jazz, and at the center there’s remains the saxophone nurtured by Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins and Michael Brecker; a unique full toned, limber dialect that knows when to take chances and when to play it cool. Review by S. Victor Aaron for SOMETHING ELSE
McCaslin & Rogers Live On NPR 2/29
Several generations of modern jazz musicians have grown up playing funk, rock and soul. These two top improvisers, Donny McCaslin & Adam Rogers, have let it seep deeply into their own hybrid music. On Feb. 29, they present their plugged-in bands on stage in New York LIVE ON NPR THIS WEDNESDAY
McCaslin Makes Globe's Top 2011 Jazz Albums
No saxophonist is more deserving of wider recognition than McCaslin, and this acoustic-electric effort may be his best yet. List by Steve Greenlee BOSTON GLOBE
The Road of Donny McCaslin
"The guy who played sax with my father, Wesley Braxton, a hippie with a big beard and tie-dye T-shirts, would play these long, wild solos. And he would lift the audience into a frenzy. The people would be dancing along the mall. So, when my Dad asked me what instrument, I said, 'Tenor sax.'" By Paul Freeman DAILY NEWS
The Rise of a Donny McCaslin
Donny McCaslin, a saxophonist with remarkable precision and technique, to be a merciless self-disciplinarian, a practice drone focused only on crafting the perfect solo. Interview by David R. Adler for JAZZ TIMES
Perpetual Motion
Donny McCaslin is an excitable tenor. He expresses his excitation not by means of volatility or force, rarely in screaming-peaking arcs, but as an irrepressible outpouring of ideas, sometimes flowing with such force that they seem to back up, tripping on each other, then gushing forth giddily. Review by Scott Corbett for DOWNBEAT.
