Donny McCaslin Leads Berklee Student Quartet in May

Berklee’s Masters on the Road series, where master alumni musicians return to campus to teach and lead a touring ensemble, continues with Donny McCaslin ‘88, the acclaimed jazz saxophonist who was featured prominently on David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar. Donny McCaslin’s Berklee Quartet will perform at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Saturday, May 14; Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, Sunday, May 15; and at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York City, Monday, May 16.

McCaslin is known for pushing musical boundaries; Bowie knew this when he entrusted the jazz virtuoso and his quartet to create the kaleidoscopic, unapologetically emotive sound heard on Blackstar, which was released two days before Bowie's death on January 8, 2016. A three-time Grammy nominee who has recorded 11 albums as a leader, McCaslin's most recent release, 2015’s Fast Future, was inspired by electronica artists Aphex Twin, Ellie Goulding, and Skrillex. His two previous albums, 2012’s Grammy-nominated Casting For Gravity and 2010’s Perpetual Motion, also fused elements of jazz and electronic music. A well-respected presence in New York jazz circles, McCaslin has toured with Maria Schneider, Dave Douglas, Danilo Perez, Brian Blade, Gil Evans, Steps Ahead, Gary Burton, and others.

Donny McCaslin’s Berklee Quartet includes Christian Li on keyboards, Matt Schumacher on electric bass, and Helen De La Rosa on drums. Bassist Bruno Raberg, a professor in the Ensemble Department, selected the students by audition and rehearsed them in McCaslin’s chosen repertoire throughout the semester. McCaslin visited at mid-semester to fine-tune the group with Raberg.

Watch this group perform McCaslin's original "Fast Future" live at Berklee:

This is the fourth year of the Masters on the Road program, in which star Berklee alumni mentor and rehearse top Berklee student performers, and then take them on tour. In 2013, jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut ’85 performed with a student sextet at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York and at the D.C. Jazz Festival. In 2014, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison ’81 toured with a student group to clubs in New York and Connecticut. Last year, jazz trumpeter Ingrid Jensen ’89 led a group of students on a five-date tour which included performances at the Mary Lou Williams Festival in Washington, D.C., and at Philadelphia’s Clef Club.