Linked Data Explorer
Interview with Donny McCaslin
- "Donny McCaslin speaks with Bill Milkowski about growing up in Santa Cruz; spending Sundays with his father, Don McCaslin, who is a working musician; going to the Santa Cruz Mall to watch his father play music; later joining father and others on bandstand at the mall; starting to play the saxophone at age 12; choosing tenor sax after loving Wesley Braxton who played with his father at the mall bandstand; his father as influential bohemian hippie with little interest in material possessions and who truly loves music, specifically the Great American Songbook; other major players in New York from Santa Cruz: Kenny Wolleson, Jeff Ballard, Kenny Carr, and Brian Henrikson; father making up bebop musical dramas along the lines of Lord Buckley with hipster dialogue and incorporating young and old friends; growing up in bohemian/hippie subculture similar to that in the Bay Area; high school jazz band; Don Keller as exceptional band leader; playing Ellington's charts as a freshman in high school; struggling as the youngest in the high school band; playing blues/sitting in with father at ages 14 and 15; playing with father regularly at 15 and 16; starting his own groups; Berklee College of Music; being chosen by Gary Burton to play a jazz cruise; primary high school influences being John Coltrane and Michael Brecker; learning how to swing; studying and playing along with various solos of Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz and Wayne Shorter; his friendship and musical relationship with Danilo Perez; the Motherland Group; working on rhythm in relation to drums; eighth-note based rhythms being expanded; logistics and mechanics of playing a saxophone; developing phrasing; collaborations with Dave Binney; finding a group of regular players who share his musical vision; playing with Lan Xang; dealing with bandstand experience as learning versus classroom learning (cerebral music versus free music that could not be analyzed); spending time in New York City with best friend from Berklee, Ben Perowsky; how the Perowsky family, exposure to music and to the city affected him greatly; touring abroad with Gary Burton; moving to New York City; playing with Mike Mainieri and Steps Ahead; the difference in physicality playing with traditional bands versus high-powered fusion bands; meeting Michael Brecker; playing with Maria Schneider; his New Works grant from Chamber Music America to work on combining folkloric rhythms of the Americas; culmination of influences over time; working with Ben Monder; current recording "Recommended Tools"; influence of Sonny Rollins; trios; his personal and professional relationship with Dave Binney; playing with Dave Douglas' band; recording "Live at Jazz Standard"; playing with the Mingus Big Band; trying to find the balance in honoring and learning from traditional jazz while focusing on being open to letting music go where it is going to go; being a product of both institutionalized and organic music; the changing jazz club scene in New York City."
- "Interview with Donny McCaslin"