Feel the ground you have your feet upon, explore the beautiful landscape and move forward. Donny McCaslin’s art is a lesson to that. He started with acoustic music, explored the possibilities electronic instruments give to make his expression richer and just started making use of them. All of this involves a lot of interaction that makes art (and life) so much more interesting and meaningful: “Ultimately, I want the feeling of our music to be uplifting, inspirational and full of love. I want people to feel the passion we have for music and the way we listen and interact with each other – it is a very collaborative dynamic we have in the group. That’s where a lot of the magic of improvised music happens – when you are in conversation with the other musicians, when we are listening and playing together.” – Donny McCaslin said on Jazz FM.
He described his work with David Bowie on the legend’s last album “Blackstar” as inspiring and as an affirming experience: “He encouraged us to try anything that we heard and it was just such a creative environment to work in.” They had the amazing three weeks to create art together – to discuss, explore and give the world the best.
That was a fateful meeting, that the band’s constant impulse to move forward brought about: “What we do is exploring the intersection between improvisation and electronic music. I think he liked that, as we are a progressive band. We are pushing the boundaries musically, I think he was attracted to that.
For us, artists of our own lives, Donny McCaslin’s words are a guidance. You can listen to Jazz FM’s interview with the inspiring musician using the “Audio” button.
Donny McCaslin is at the Plovdiv Jazz Fest tonight.
