Bowie's last band readies album inspired by him
Album will also bring together the other members of Donny McCaslin Group who played on "Blackstar".
NEW YORK (AFP) - The musicians who supported David Bowie on his final opus, "Blackstar," on Friday announced their own album inspired by the late rock legend.
"Beyond Now," which will come out on October 14, is led by Donny McCaslin, the experimental jazz saxophonist whom Bowie tapped for "Blackstar."
The album will also bring together the other members of the Donny McCaslin Group who played on "Blackstar," which came out January 8, two days before Bowie’s death from an unannounced battle with cancer.
"David Bowie was a visionary artist whose generosity, creative spirit and fearlessness will stay with me the rest of my days. ‘Beyond Now’ is dedicated to him and to all who loved him," McCaslin said in a statement.
"Beyond Now" features both original works and covers. The first single is a take on Bowie’s "A Small Plot of Land," which appeared on his 1995 dystopian concept album "1. Outside" and foreshadowed "Blackstar" by bringing free jazz touches to the rock song.
Taking on the feel of "Blackstar," the cover version opens with a dark backdrop before steadily building into McCaslin’s saxophone solo halfway through.
The album also features a cover of Bowie’s "Warszawa," a gloomy ambient piece from his Berlin-based electronic period in the late 1970s that, like "A Small Plot of Land," was written with Brian Eno.
"Beyond Now" also covers two current crowd-favorite electronic artists -- Deadmau5 and The Chainsmokers -- as well as alternative rockers Mutemath.
"More than anything, it was (Bowie’s) fearlessness in crossing musical boundaries and genres in his music and life that inspired the approach I’m taking in ‘Beyond Now,’" McCaslin said.
"I am indebted to Bowie for showing me the risks and rewards of going for your uncompromising musical vision," he added.
Bowie, a longtime resident of New York, had sought out McCaslin at one of the city’s intimate jazz clubs and proposed a collaboration, to the saxophonist’s surprise.
"Blackstar" drifts seamlessly between jazz and rock as Bowie and McCaslin appear to duet between voice and saxophone.
In hindsight, much of "Blackstar" foreshadowed Bowie’s death with lyrics that reflect on his prolific life.
