McCaslin, Donny

Perpetual Motion

Label: Koch Country: USA

"Perpetual Motion is tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin's first dedicated foray into the electrified realms of funk, R&B and soul. A renowned soloist whose memberships in Dave Douglas' Quintet , Mingus Dynasty and the Maria Schneider Orchestra have won him great acclaim (including a Grammy nomination for his work with Schneider's Orchestra), McCaslin has delved into groove-based territory in the past, but never as exclusively as he does on this simmering electro-acoustic platter.

McCaslin's recent releases have relied on primarily acoustic line-ups, including the brass augmented set, Declaration (Greenleaf, 2009), and the stripped-down trio effort, Recommended Tools (Greenleaf, 2008). This heavily amplified session features Adam Benjamin (Kneebody, Dave Douglas ' Keystone) on Fender Rhodes and piano, electric bassist Tim LeFebvre (Uri Caine Bedrock, Wayne Krantz Trio) and either longstanding associate Antonio Sanchez or Mark Guiliana in the drum chair. Alto saxophonist and co-producer David Binney makes a guest appearance on the punchy swinger "Impossible Machine," while keyboardist Uri Caine appears on a few choice cuts, including the surprisingly elegiac solo piano piece that closes the album, "For Someone."

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Buoyed by an outstanding ensemble, McCaslin reveals a facet of his artistry on Perpetual Motion that has been primarily relegated to his sideman gigs and a few tunes from his earliest records, proving yet again that he is one of today's most diverse, engaging and talented performers."-Troy Collins, All About Jazz