Jazz Articles about Donny McCaslin

About Donny McCaslin

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A Percussion Paradise Inhabited By Searing, Soaring Sensations

by Keith Flint
September 19, 2026

From its solo conga introduction to its exuberant ensemble finale, Donny McCaslin's “Soar" leads listeners along a path of tension, anticipation, and release. The pleasures of the performance are immediate, yet its full gratification is tantalizingly delayed: rhythm first, then added texture, then a gathering rush of sound as each musician finds a place in the unfolding drama. Immanuel Kant's 1764 Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime invited readers to deeply consider subjective ...

Album Review

Jon Irabagon: Focus Out

Read "Focus Out" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
June 1, 2026

Focus Out è la seconda uscita discografica di Rising Sun, ennesima formazione partorita dalla mente vulcanica del sassofonista Jon Irabagon, da diversi anni figura centrale nella scena più vivace, creativa e imprevedibile del jazz statunitense. Un quartetto acustico/elettrico con i fiocchi che si avvale dell'apporto di musicisti altrettanto creativi e già coinvolti in passati progetti del sassofonista di origini filippine. Come la maggior parte delle incisioni di Irabagon, Focus Out sorprende per la sua organicità a dispetto della varietà di ...

Album Review

Civil Disobedience: Blue Note In The Progressive Sixties

Read "Blue Note In The Progressive Sixties" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 29, 2026

Bassist and educator David Ambrosio's quintet Civil Disobedience: Blue Note in the Progressive Sixties is both a tribute and a reclamation, a love letter to the music, the musicians and the social movements that shaped a turbulent era. The project was sparked by a student, which led Ambrosio to revisit a body of Blue Note recordings from the 1960s that had been shelved for years. As jazz-rock fusion rose in popularity and Alfred Lion sold the label, many adventurous post-bop ...

Festivals Talking

Jazzkaar Interviews: Donny McCaslin

by Martin Longley
April 25, 2026

Tallinn's nine-day Jazzkaar festival is one of Europe's finest, always strengthening its line-up via visiting Statesiders, native Estonians and a spread of acts from around the continent. One of its climaxes in 2026 will be the appearance of tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin, striking out with his powerful and stable quartet lineup, and concentrating on 2025's Lullaby For The Lost album, released by the mighty British label Edition Records. With records by Chris Potter, Dave Holland, Ben Wendel and Kurt Elling ...

Album Review

Jon Irabagon: Focus Out

Read "Focus Out" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
April 6, 2026

Jon Irabagon remains among the most uncompromising voices in contemporary jazz. A first-generation Filipino American from Chicago, he draws deeply from the AACM legacy--Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Muhal Richard Abrams--and his home city's tradition of bold, searching saxophone work. Since his 2008 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition win, Irabagon has used his Irabbagast Records imprint to sustain a commitment to fierce originality and collective dialogue. Focus Out serves as a formidable statement from his working quartet, featuring Irabagon ...

Album Review

Jason Forsythe: It's About Time

Read "It's About Time" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
December 7, 2025

Trombonist and composer Jason Forsythe's debut recording as a composer, It's About Time, acts as both a declaration and a reflection: a declaration that his extensive apprenticeship with New York's jazz and Latin bands has cultivated a distinctive compositional voice, and a reflection of the various stylistic influences that have shaped his artistry. The nine-track album, performed by a top-tier sextet featuring trumpeter Brian Lynch, tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist Michael Weiss, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer ...

Album Review

Jason Forsythe: It's About Time

Read "It's About Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 19, 2025

It's About Time likely refers to the fact that although Jason Forsythe has been a jazz composer of note for decades, this is the first-ever recording he has released as leader of his own ensemble, in this case a world-class sextet whose heavyweight front line is manned by trumpeter Brian Lynch, tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf and trombonist Steve Davis. While Forsythe wrote eight of the album's nine songs--every one of which houses much to admire and commend--the ...