Episode 63: Donny McCaslin

Speaking of the Arts

Today we are featuring the one and only Donny McCaslin https://www.donnymccaslin.com/music . Donny made national headlines a few years ago when he worked with David Bowie on what would ultimately be Bowie’s final album, Blackstar. Since then, Donny has released the critically acclaimed album BLOW and, prior to the COVID shutdown, he regularly toured the United States, Europe, and Asia as the leader of his own high energy band. On August 14, Donny released a new single called Reckoning https://www.donnymccaslin.com/music , an emotional response to the recent months of heightened protests in the wake of increased racial violence. From the press release, “While certain sections of the song channel anger and a sense of urgency, other sections reflect the possibility of hope for more positive and meaningful actions like those of the Black Lives Matter movement. McCaslin worked on the piece with GRAMMY®-nominated producer, (re-)mixer, bassist and composer Ben Rubin. Rubin used news coverage samples of recent protests at start and end along with a DJ premier - inspired boom-bap beat to set the song’s focus. McCaslin laid down some of the saxophone and flute tracks through his phone, recorded in a closet, expressing his emotions in a raw, unfiltered setting." The track is available on your favorite streaming platform now and I encourage listeners to check it out. It is Donny’s artistic reaction to the long history of injustice facing the black community and is very timely.