Donny McCaslin with “A” Band and NiteCap, part of the Cap Jazz Series, Friday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. at the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts at Capilano University. Tickets, $32/$29, visit capilanou.ca/blueshorefinancialcentre.
About to embark on a week-long engagement at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York City’s Greenwich Village in mid-January, saxophonist Donny McCaslin and his bandmates were discussing how best to pay tribute to the recent passing of iconic artist Davie Bowie.
The musicians were featured on Bowie’s 25th and final studio album, Blackstar, released earlier in the month on Bowie’s 69th birthday, a mere two days prior to his death as a result of liver cancer.
It didn’t feel appropriate to play anything from the new record, however keyboard player Jason Lindner had an idea: “Warszawa,” a 1977 song, co-written with Brian Eno, from Bowie’s album Low.
“We tried it at sound check and it just fit right away and we played it in every set of every night that week. As we were doing that I knew that I wanted to record it because it was a really intense time, really emotional, and that tune was kind of a way to focus a lot of that feeling into a song and into a performance night after night, which was cathartic,” says McCaslin.
“Warszawa” was eventually recorded by McCaslin and his band, along with a second cover by the artist, 1995’s “A Small Plot of Land,” and released Oct. 14 on new album, Beyond Now, dedicated to and inspired by their recent collaborator.
“His influence was really profound and part of that was around the kind of person he was and the kind of artist he was. He was such a fearless artist and he was fearless in realizing his musical vision and that’s really inspiring to be around somebody like that. … The example that he set as an artist was really something that will stay with me and then also the way he went about it. He was really generous with us and made us feel really comfortable in the studio and was very affirmative of what we were doing and encouraged us to take chances with the music,” says Brooklyn-based McCaslin, reached Monday from Hillsboro, Mo.’s Jefferson College, a Midwest tour stop.
McCaslin’s musical journey began at a young age, the result of being exposed to a variety of musical styles growing up in his native Santa Cruz, Calif. His parents divorced when he was young and he’d see his jazz musician father weekly.
“Part of our ritual was I would go with him to his gig on a Sunday afternoon. He played from about 12 in the afternoon until 5 or 6 p.m. His band, called Warmth, they played a variety of Great American Songbook material, straight-ahead jazz, and then they also played Latin jazz, and also R&B, funk tunes, like “Mercy, Mercy,” “Mustang Sally,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” tunes like that,” he says.
McCaslin started playing saxophone at age 12 and became increasingly immersed in the music of his hometown. He basked in the opportunity to take in international bands on Monday nights at the local jazz centre, took in shows by reggae bands as well as Bay Area favourites Tower of Power that frequented the area, experimented with the local salsa music scene, and had an opportunity to play Duke Ellington’s big band music thanks to the director of his high school band.
“I grew up in this environment where all these different styles of music co-existed in a way and were all part of my musical DNA. Growing up, all that stuff seemed to fit together naturally to me and I just bounced around between those things. I think that’s played out through my career. I’ve always just been attracted to whatever music is appealing to me,” he says.
McCaslin continued to play, study, record and perform all different types of music with a variety of musicians, eventually culminating in his recording an electric-focused record, 2011’s Perpetual Motion, setting him on his current path away. That path led to him being recommended to Bowie by collaborator and composer Maria Schneider. Bowie took her advice and checked out McCaslin and his band at a June 2014 performance at 55 Bar in New York City, subsequently asking them to join him for his new project.
“It’s like something that you dream about that you would never even think to dream of,” says McCaslin.
He and the band recorded with Bowie at the since closed New York City Magic Shop studio for three stints between January and March 2015.
“It was wonderful to see him working out lyrics while we were recording, making notes. When he would step into the studio to overdub some vocals it was always really quick. He was really focused. It was something to see just how focused he was when he worked,” says McCaslin.
The title track of McCaslin’s Beyond Now, recorded three months after Bowie’s passing, was meant as a tribute to the man whose influence remains. The song was inspired by a track recorded for
Blackstar that didn’t make the final cut. The record also features covers of Deadmau5’s “Coelacanth 1,” MUTEMATH’s “Remain” and “New York City” by the Chainsmokers, as well as other originals.
McCaslin and his band are scheduled to perform repertoire drawn from the last 10 years of his recording career in North Vancouver tonight, his first performance in the Lower Mainland in a decade, at the BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts. They’ll be joined by members of the school’s “A” Band and NiteCap, directed by Brad Turner and Réjean Marois, respectively. Next, they plan to embark on a European tour to continue celebrating the release of Beyond Now and plan to return to the West Coast this summer for shows in Vancouver and Victoria.
