Exile & Discovery

From Jazziz
Like Braden, Donny Mccaslin has a strong sense of self - exactly what it takes to wax frisky on your debut disc. Exile and Discovery finds the young tenor player betting the farm on exuberance. On each of the 10 cuts, he comes up a winner. That's probably no surprise to the New York jazz fans McCaslin has impressed over the last couple of years. His gigs as both sideman and leader have found him to be a technically assured hard-bopper who walks on the progressive side. Two Astor Piazzolla etudes dot the record's feisty program. The first finds McCaslin slipping around the tango rhythms, emphasizing the composer's blend of gritty and grand. As the romping takes of "Along Came Betty" and "Tenderly" explain, the saxophonist is adamant about deep-sixing any wisp of stuffiness. Piazzolla's notes may be classically tinged, but McCaslin treats them like some long-lost Rollins cadenza. The saxophonist convenes a formidable unit. Pianist Bruce Barth, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and drummer Billy Drummond take no guff when they strut their stuff, and Exile and Discovery struts continuously. McCaslin blows the head of the uptempo title cut, but instantly he's gone, letting the rhythm section rock. Barth is one of jazz's under-appreciated pianists, and, as he leaps up a staircase of notes to begin his solo, you realize how frisky mainstream jazz can be. Drummond will swing until someone pushes him from his kit; he has about a hundred ways to reaccentuate a typical groove - for example, the skittish rubato placed behind "Bye Ya." The quartet's synergy is what makes this a notable record, but it's McCaslin's gusto that enlivens every track. On Exile and Discovery, this newcomer already sounds like a vet.

Exile & Discovery,Donny McCaslin,Naxos,Classical Music,Jazz,Pop

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