"Casting for Gravity" GRE=1028 |
The saxophonist Donny McCaslin has been steadily adding to a
body of work that is firmly establishing him as a powerful voice in modern
creative music. As a in-demand sideman on such interesting recent efforts like
Ryan Truesdale’s Gil Evans Project Centennial , a valued member of
trumpeter Dave Douglas’s Quintet and Maria Schneider’s Orchestra, or on his own
recent impressive efforts as a leader on albums like Recommended Tools, Declaration
and PerpetualMotion, watching McCaslin mature
is like watching a seedling develop into
a mighty oak. As with any artist who is
pushing his boundaries there are moments of brilliance and moments of
disappointment, but for the most part McCaslin has consistently moved the bar
higher and higher.
If music as art has the higher purpose to move its audience,
than certainly McCaslin is a successful artist, as he seems to do so with a
force of nature approach to his instrument. His latest offering Castingfor Gravity is a case in point. After dipping his toe in the waters of
electro/acoustic music in his last album Perpetual Motion, McCaslin has
decided to explore what full integration into electronica can bring to his
musical palette. He wants to make music that can utilize, as he says, “…more
sonic layers” which he hopes will challenge him into deeper exploratory
terrain. It may also be a way for him to expand his following by tapping into
more modern musical influences and fusing them with his own brand of artistry. Lord
knows jazz needs to expand its musical audience.
He is joined here by the keyboardist Jason Lindner, the
electric bassist Tim LeFebvre and the cyclonic drummer Mark Guiliana. The visionary alto saxophonist and
producer David Binney adds a composition, vocals and synthesizers to the
mix. These musicians bring their own kind of ionically charged energy to this
album.
McCaslin claims influence for some of this album came from
Britiish electronica musician Richard D. James, who performs under the
pseudonym of Aphex Twin and from the Scottish duo Boards of Canada whose song
“Alpha and Omega” he uses as the jumping off point for his own jet fueled excursion.
I am particularly taken by McCaslin and Guiliana together in
such pieces like the ever ascending “Stadium Jazz” and the staccato “Tension”.
It is as if these two atomic reactors combine in harmonic resonance creating a
fusion like implosion of energy.. Lindner’s driving piano and synthesizer and
Lefebvre pulsing bass work in lock step to produce the firm rhythmic background
that allows these two seemingly unstoppable forces to probe forward into the
abyss.
“Losing Track of Daylight” is perhaps the most groove-based
of the compositions, with LeFebvre’s pliant bass lines leading the way behind
Guiliana’s in-the-pocket playing. Lindner’s expansive keyboard creates an airy,
floating sound that dances over cloud like layers of shimmering cymbals and
snapping snares. McCaslin honks his way in a playful but penetrating display of
horn dynamics.
The multilayered “Alpha and Omega” is a demonstration of
“the layered sound” that McCaslin is trying to create. With its repeating
saxophone and synthesizer motif setting the landscape for Guiliana’s explosive
drum outbursts the mood created is eerily hypnotic.
On Binney’s crescendo building “Praia Grande” the group
dynamic is at its most unified and McCaslin’s tenor soars with unrestrained
energy and unbridled passion.
The title track “Casting for Gravity” has LeFebvre playing
the opening line on his electric bass in a guitar-like riff with Guiliana’s
cadenced drum work reminiscent of the early electronica group Portishead. McCaslin slowly
enters with a repeating serpentine saxophone call that pre-dominates the rest
of the tune to its coda.
“Henry” is a softer more introspective piece named after
McCaslin’s infant son. Sensitively played by Lindner on a electric piano with a
distinctively dreamy sound. The group seem to find an inner gentleness on this
one that is quite compelling. McCaslin’s warm, probing sound is fluid and
emotive; a father’s tender call out to his son. As the group warms up to the
increased tempo, the intensity follows but never upstages the underlying love
that seems to pour from McCaslin’s horn.
Musicians: Donny McCaslin, Tenor Saxophone; Jason Lindner, Electric and Acoustic Pianos, Synthesizers; Tim Lefebvre, Electric Bass; Mark Guiliana Drums, David Binney, vocals and additional sythesizers.
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