A River Runs Through the Manhattan School of Music's Borden Auditorium

The MSM Jazz Philharmonic and Conductor Justin DiCioccio

On Friday November 7, 2014, the Manhattan School of Music School’s  Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra, under the able direction of maestro Justin DiCioccio, produced  a river of sound that washed through the school’s Borden auditorium to a packed house of music lovers.

The occasion was the  World premiere of University of South Florida’s distinguished professor Chuck Owen’s  masterful suite River Runs in its
entirety. The 2013 recording was among the nominees for the 2014 Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Instrumental Composition for Bound Away,and Best Instrumental Arrangement for Side Hikes: A Ridge Away. Both compositions are part  five-movement concerto, combining a full symphony orchestra with a jazz ensemble and jazz soloists on violin, guitar and saxophone. The soloists were the tenor saxophone firebrand Donny McCaslin, the sensitive violinist Sara Caswell and the masterful guitarist Jack Wilkins.

The music is an exhilarating compositional tour de force, combining the multiple musical voices, colors and timbres that a full orchestra can command with the individual jazz expressions of the featured solo instruments of electric guitar, tenor saxophone and violin.

On this night maestro DiCioccio was exuberant in his direction of the music, as his orchestra produced brilliant tones and waves of sound that swept over the audience in the music’s ebbs and flow. The music was conceived by Mr. Owen as a representation of multiple adventure trips he has taken canoeing and rafting down various rivers in this country. Each movement is a musical depiction of various aspects of these trips. 

The opening composition “Prologue: Dawn’s at River’s Edge” is an impressionistic  piece, all about the anticipation of waking up to nature in the early morning ready to embark on another challenging journey down the mysterious waters that lie ahead.

The Grammy nominated “Movement I: Bound Away” is a musical recollection of the shimmering light reflected off the rippling pools of the Greenbrier and New Rivers of West Virginia. The trip meanders through a gorge where the thunderous sound of the approaching rapids is the clarion call that Owens' music recreates.

“Movement II :Dark Waters , Slow Waters” is a representation of Owen's time on the Hillsborough River in Florida, A river edged with drooping cypress and lined with murky pools of ominous swampy waters. The music becomes much more tranquil as you go on a more languishing journey through the humid, moss covered banks of the Everglades. There is a sense of foreboding in this piece, an ominous feel of not really knowing what to expect around the next bend of the route.

“Movement III : Chutes and Wave Trains” is a depiction of Owen's time on the Chatooga River as he makes his way down through Georgia and South Carolina. The music compresses and swells at times, similar to the way the water is compressed when funneled through a restrictive chute carved out of the architecture of the river banks; building up pressure and speed, only to be released on the other side of the obstruction, into the opening calm.

“Movement IV: Side Hikes- A Ridge Away” This Grammy nominated composition is inspired from Owen's trips to the Green River in Utah and the Colorado River in Colorado,  and was also adapted from the CD Ridgelines, a recording made by the saxophonist Jack Wilkins ( no relation to the guest guitarist) who was the featured saxophonist on the original recording. The unifying factor in both pieces is the concept of reaching a nearby ridge for an overview of your surroundings. Finally reaching the ridge you see many other ridges in your horizon, many never to be experienced, always just a “Ridge Away” from your reach. The composition appropriately creates a wistful  sense of longing for the next great adventure.

“Movement V: Perhaps the Better Claim: The River  of No Return” With a line borrowed from Robert Frost’s haunting poem “A Road Not Taken”, Owen's chooses this title for a musical trip down Idaho’s Salmon River, a river known for its fierce rapids, its deep canyon, its treacherous terrain and its stunning scenery. The musical depiction sent the occupants of this auditorium-on-pontoons into a swirling and satisfying conclusion.

The music was masterfully played by the MSM’s Jazz Philharmonic, who conquered the suite's demanding musical nuances, creating the atmosphere that so brilliantly depicts the natural musical sounds of the river rafting experience.

The soloists were in top form. Ms. Caswell was particularly poignant when her violin was featured as a soloist and at times in counterpoint to her two fellow soloists. Saxophonist McCaslin is a firebrand of a player. He always brings a sense of energy and excitement to his work. He was particularly effective producing a "waves of sound” deluge that flowed from his horn much like the rapids of Owen's compositions. Guitarist Jack Wilkins was playing a Fender Telecaster through an amp and the sound was unfortunately somewhat muted from where I sat. Wilkins is one of those players whose technique is precise and immaculately clean; a consummate player whose melodic solos, (the ones I was I was able to hear clearly), were fluid, fleet and precise. His interplay with McCaslin was particularly noteworthy as the two fed off of each other brilliantly. 

Mr. Owen was in the audience for this performance and in speaking to him briefly afterwards he was obviously gratified to see his music performed so admirably.

To be able to imitate the sounds of nature; to be able to magically reproduce the rapturous feeling one can get from communing in the woods on such an endeavor as white river rafting or hiking is an extraordinary achievement.  I related to this album when I first reviewed it back in July of 2013 ( click here for a link to that review.) Now having seen it performed live by the MSM Jazz Philharmonic it only reinforces my original convictions. If you get a chance to see this work performed live and you enjoy commuting with nature you will not be disappointed with this brilliant piece of music.

Donny McCaslin at the Firehouse 12

Donny McCaslin at Firehouse 12 photo by Ralph A. Miriello c2 012

The Firehouse 12 is a beautifully converted old firehouse on Crown Street  in downtown New Haven, CT. The converted space now includes a chic lower level bar, a state of the art recording studio and an intimate performing space. Every season, the venue produces a series of Friday night concerts that feature some of today’s most interesting and creative performers in jazz.  Some acts that were featured this year included Ingrid Laubrock, Kris Davis and Tyshawn Sorey’ s Paradoxical Frog,  E.J. Strickland’s Quintet, Dan Tepfler’s Trio and the more mainstream Fred Hersch Trio. The “Live Room,” a 1200 square foot space that seats approximately seventy-five lucky patrons, is where all performances are featured.  It is the intimate nature of this venue that makes it especially rewarding for both the artists and their fans.

On this past Friday evening the Firehouse featured the firebrand saxophonist Donny McCaslin and some old friends playing the music of his latest cd  Casting for Gravity. I recently reviewed this challenging album which finds McCaslin pushing further into the blurred lines between jazz and electronica. You can read my Huffington Post  review here.

On the album McCaslin was joined by the keyboard artist Jason Lindner, the bassist Tim LeFebvre and the drummer Mark Guiliana.  At the Firehouse, McCaslin’s band included the talented pianist Kevin Hays, the bassist Fima Ephron and the drummer Zach Danzinger.

Kevin Hays photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2012

The group started out with the title track from his new album “Casting for Gravity" a slow brewing song that starts with McCaslin and Hays slowly ruminating on a vamp that then erupts into a more urgent, repeating refrain from McCaslin that is accentuated by some strong syncopated pounding by Danzinger. The refrain eventually ends in just under four minutes, segueing into the powerful “Stadium Jazz.”  At its’ core, this tune is built on a melodic ascending and descending scale played by McCaslin and Hays, which yields to a raucous break-a broken, staccato driven vamp played in unison by soaring tenor, echoing Rhodes keyboard, throbbing electric bass and bombastic drums all executed with surgical-like precision. While the energy level of the group was laudable the unchecked volume of Mr. Danziger’s drums was unsettling.

On McCaslin’s “Losing Track of Daylight” the artful Kevin Hays straddled himself between the grand piano and the Fender Rhodes. Hays single handed runs on the Rhodes came through as muddled to my ears and I was in the second row. The nuances of his solos almost rendered undecipherable, blotted out as the drums overpowered the space. Where on the album Guilliana’s drums are powerful, syncopated partner in the music with well placed rhythmic breaks, Danzinger’s pulse was bombastic, overpowering and awkwardly at times out of sync with the flow. McCaslin, who is a powerful player, seemed oblivious to Danziger’s volume and compensated with his own strength. All subtlty that may have been observable in Hays or Fima’s work was obliterated by Danzinger’s over the top playing.

There is no doubt McCaslin’s music requires a strong rhythmic foundation, but it is incumbent upon a drummer to know the room and play accordingly. The audience for the most part seemed impressed by Mr. Danzinger’s energetic playing. He is a powerful, propulsive drummer who has serious chops, but to my way of thinking he needs to harness his enthusiasm and inject some subtlety especially in a room as intimate as the Firehouse.

McCaslin has a slender, reed-like frame with an innocent, almost schoolboy look, a deceptive appearance that hides the fire that resides within this man. This fire erupted on his next composition “Tension,” a song he composed with his two year old Henry in mind. McCaslin’s music, while taken from life,  has become less lyrical in his most recent offerings and this composition is a case in point. Starting out as a series of repeating honks that rise and fall to a changing beat, the song is a pure exercise in manic, frenzy that leaves you in a state of agitation. McCaslin’s taught face was the picture of tension as he played this song. While it may perfectly represent his state of mind when his two year old is testing him, it did little for me but to make me twitch. 

The final song of the first show was titled “Memphis Redux” and was a from a previous McCaslin album titled Perpetual Motion. The slow burning, funk imbued song was a homage of sorts to influences like Joe Zawinul’s  “Mercy, Mercy Mercy “. McCaslin’s horn took on a distinctive Maceo Parker rasp to it as he dug deep into the soul of the tune. It was nice to hear McCaslin play more recognizably melodic music. Kevin Hays added a  particularly bluesy touch to the keyboard and with Danziger in the pocket on this tune, Hays offered his most creative solo of the night. McCaslin ended the song with a sustained solo exploration that was both lyrical and moving and brought the audience to its feet.

I applaud McCaslin for stretching his boundaries and venturing into more challenging modes of music. He is a fine player who plays with intensity and passion, but perhaps he is sacrificing some of his musicality. I was recently at a Jazz Standard show where I was seated next to two saxophonists who had come to  see Scott' Robinson's latest creative work, Bronze Nemisis. One of the players, who recently saw Donny at a Vanguard show, read my review of Casting for Gravity and later wrote to me in disappointment. that at the Vanguard show he just wanted to yell out “Sing us a song, Donny!”   I remain a fan, but  I too long for McCaslin to show us his more lyrical side more often.

Casting for Gravity Donny McCaslin's Adventurous Journey into the Unknown

"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.

In many ways McCaslin’s journey into electronica is like a journey into the unknown. He is Casting for Gravity when he goes into this realm and it will not be for everyone, but it courageous and a powerful musical statement that has moments of brilliance and maybe prove to be an important  portal for expanding the shrinking jazz audience

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.

Review of Donny McCaslin’s “ Perpetual Motion”

Perpetual Motion
Donny McCaslin

Perpetual Motion Greenleaf Music

Recorded at Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY September 2010

Saxophonist Donny McCaslin is a stalwart of the New York jazz scene and has played as an effusive sideman for many of New York’s finest musicians. He usually can be found as a member of the Maria Schneider orchestra as well as the Mingus Band and has lent his talents to the works of pianist Danilo Perez, vibraphonist Gary Burton, trumpeter/composer
Dave Douglas and the progressive group
Steps Ahead ,where he replaced the late Michael Brecker. His development as a both a player and a composer of his own music has been like watching a rare flower unfold before your eyes. From his recent recordings as a leader
“Recommended Tools” and “Declaration” , McCaslin has left an ever expanding palette of music to listen to and savor. On this latest offering, he was purportedly nudged by friend, producer and fellow saxophonist David Binney,
to work in a more electric format.

From the beginning notes of this new album from the saxophonist, you can feel the energy and enthusiasm that has been injected into this effort. With a rolling fusillade of action packed into the opening by master drummer
 Antonio Sanchez, “Five Hands Down” sets the tone for what is to follow. McCaslin’s angular attack is filled with aggression and frenzy, as he pierces the high register of his horn or stabs with punctuated notes in conversation with Sanchez.

On the title track, “Perpetual Motion”, McCaslin circuitously plays in concert with the Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano sounds of Adam Benjamin before he states the fragment of a melody that catches your attention, an ever escalating cry of exclamation. Tim LeFebvre’s bass and Sanchez’s drums follow McCaslin’s explorational solo, a cascade of notes, a plethora of changing tones, with multiple variations of attack and timbers. A demonstration of free and inspired playing. Benjamin takes an airy solo that makes perfect use of the Fender Rhode’s s late seventies fusion sound. When McCaslin returns to his barest of melody lines, in the last quarter of the song,  he whips it into a frenzy of poignancy.

The composition “Claire” finds McCaslin honking away in a staccato exchange with Sanchez. It is these dueling masters that make for some of the most memorable moments on the album. Sanchez seems to be everyone’s drummer of choice these days and it is easy to see why, as he is a master of percussive communication with seemingly inexhautible vitality. McCaslin, for his part, alternates between high screeches to mellow, low register sustained notes. Benjamin is again effective in utilizing the unique sound quality and feel of the Fender Rhodes. As Sanchez and Lefebvre dance in the background, Benjamin takes us on an astral adventure that is delightfully buoyant.

Much of McCaslin’s music uses the barest armature of a structure, be it melodic or rhythmic, upon which to build his musical excursions. On “Firefly”, the use of electronic sounds, presumably by Binney and Benjamin over Sanchez’s cymbals, set the background for McCaslin’s saxophone wandering. He flutters through the electronic haze like a firefly through a fog before reaching for daylight and clarity towards the end of the piece.

“Energy Generation” has a backbeat that that allows McCaslin to stretch out his more funky side, but even in this vein his playing has a sense of urgency and a lack of cliché. With Sanchez and Lefebvre driving the beat you can’t help but feel the groove.

The second part of this album takes a sharp turn into funky town and seems a bit disconnected to the first part. On “Memphis Redux”, the energy level is palpably turned down a notch to simmer like a slow cooking gumbo. McCaslin’s soulful side is on display here and he has some fine moments of raw, gutsy playing. Benjamin’s solo on piano is peppered by electronic sounds from Binney, making this music sound less dated.

On “L.Z.C.M.” the sound is an electronic funk with a driving beat by Guiliana and Benjamin on Rhodes. Despite the plethora of electronic sounds and McCaslin’s  clarion saxophone work, there is less excitement and less continuity to my ear.

“East Bay Grit” is thirty seconds of fading into a groove.

“Impossible Machine” has a quick paced, complex line that features a splendid duet with Binney on alto and McCaslin on tenor pacing each other in precise synchronicity. This is drummer Mark Guiliana’s best work of his four cuts on the album. McCaslin and Binney play extremely well together and the ending is tart, crisp and surgical.

Uri Caine’s solo piano on the finale “For Someone” is a pretty ballad but somewhat detached from the rest of the album and in my mind a strange way to end what is on balance, such a high energy outing.

Musicians: Donny McCaslin (tenor saxophone); Adam Bejamin (Fender Rhodes & Piano)tracks 1-7 &9 ; Tim LeFebvre ( electric bass) ; Antonio Sanchez ( drums tracks 1-5) ; Mark Guiliana ( drums) tracks 6-9; Uri Cane (piano) tracks 4 & 10 (Fender Rhodes & piano) track 8; David Binney (alto saxophone ) track 9 (electronics ) multiple tracks.

Review of Donny McCaslin's "Declaration" from his new CD Declaration

Artist: Donny McCaslin

CD: Declaration (SSC 1218)

Musicians: Donny McCaslin (tenor saxophone, alto flute); Edward Simon (piano); Ben Monder (guitar); Scott Coley (bass); Antonio Sanchez (drums);with Alex Sipiagin (flugelhorn); Chris Komer (French horn); Marshall Gilkes (trombone); Marcus Rojas (tuba)

Recorded: Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY January & February 2009


Composer : Donny McCaslin


Donny McCaslin, is an alumnus of the Maria Schneider orchestra, The Mingus Big Band and trumpeter Dave Douglas’s quintet as well as other progressive groups. A versatile musician with a unique, edgy voice, he has acquired his own sense of composition and orchestration.

On “Declaration”, McCaslin’s compositional mettle is revealed. He utilizes a format that includes a brass section of flugelhorn, French horn, trombone and tuba to compliment and extend the range of sounds he employs with his quintet. McCaslin declares the main theme with his sharp-edged saxophone. He plays the melodic prayer-like sentiment behind the processional sounds of his brass section. It is hard to discern precisely what kind of declaration McCaslin is making here, but the composition successfully projects a spiritual sense of reverence and enlightenment.

Simon, Monder, Colley and Sanchez create an airy, cloud-like atmosphere upon which McCaslin’s horn can expand his proclamation. He does so with the carefully placed low register notes and an excellent use of space and time that validate a searching sincerity in his statements. McCaslin builds intensity by creating crescendos of sounds- at times purposefully shrieking- that he builds in a passionate display to a high register apex. The brass section re-enters for the reverential reprise as McCaslin restates the theme until it closes with a soft refrain of gentle piano and fading brass. With “Declaration” McCaslin presents a complex and subtly different offering from this high-powered saxophonist’s usual fare.