Blow.

Description

Days before his January 2016 death, David Bowie released his final album, Blackstar. While the record represented an endpoint for the legendary artist, it marked a new beginning for jazz lifer Donny McCaslin who, armed with his saxophone and the distinctive sound of his band, played a key role in defining Blackstars visionary stylistic fusion.

Now, two and a half years after Blackstars release, McCaslin returns with a new album, Blow., a new definitive statement that fully realizes Bowies influence and McCaslins evolved artistic direction. Before working with him, things like this didnt seem possible to me, McCaslin says of Blow., the most daring work of his two-decade, Grammy-nominated career. The affirmation of that project and how wonderfully that turned out artistically I feel like anything is possible now.

Blow.s vision is supported by a top-notch cast of musicians that includes vocal collaborations with Sun Kil Moons Mark Kozelek, fellow Bowie collaborator Gail Ann Dorsey, longtime collaborator Jeff Taylor and singersongwriter Ryan Dahle (Limblifter, Mounties), paired with Blackstar bandmates Tim Lefebvre, Jason Lindner and Mark Guiliana. The idea was to just really go for exploring these collaborations and documenting everything, explains McCaslin, adding that the project had a good gestation process and developed in a way that didnt feel rushed.

According to McCaslin, the natural progression that led to Blow. began with 2016s Beyond Now, which was the seed for Blow. and featured a combination of originals (written after Blackstars recording but before Bowies death), as well as covers of Bowie, Mutemath and Deadmau5.

McCaslin emphasizes Blow.s wide range of moods, some of which will sound familiar to longtime McCaslin fans. Others not so much, as they span prog and art rock, downtempo quiet storm, instrumentals influenced by Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and more. Naturally, McCaslins horn unites Blow.s disparate elements, though not in the way one might expect. Thinking back to the Blackstar sessions, McCaslin remembers how Bowie urged him to manipulate his instruments sound, to create different loops and textures while improvising. That really stuck with me, says McCaslin. Its such a big part of what Im doing now, how I integrate the electronics and the saxophone.