On Wednesday night, 8/10/16, I went to Brooklyn's Prospect Park bandshell to see Jim Henson's 1986 film Labyrinth, a movie I had not yet seen. There's a reason it lacks the renown of The Princess Bride or other such efforts of that era: it's an uninspired idea with an uninspired screenplay. The presence of David Bowie as the Goblin King is the only reason to see it, and, as it turned out, it was the reason I went. But an extraordinary bonus arrived with the "opening act": jazz saxophonist Donny McCaslin brought his combo to the stage for a 45-minute set that included material from his upcoming album Beyond Now (release date this October), and music by David Bowie (he and his bandmates were the featured jazz players on Bowie's farewell release, Blackstar). McCaslin is a refined sax-player; very lyrical with no skronking; reminding me very much of Wayne Shorter. In fact, his combo would have the pedigree of Weather Report had the keyboardist engaged in counterpoint with the sax. But as the keyboards concentrated mainly on providing textures and soundscapes, the focus stayed clearly on McCaslin's sax. For me, the highlight was the band's reverential playing of Bowie's "Lazarus," which morphed seamlessly into "Warszawa" from Low—Bowie's astonishing first collaborative album with Brian Eno. Here's a pic of the band at play: https://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=1169041
And I have several Dave Brubeck albums inherited from my father. I keep good care of them. They,too,segue seamlessly from one piece to another. The 8" ones were all recorded live at concerts given at colleges, and in at least one case, led to the establishing of a Jazz music dept.. I do not know about the 10" 33RP LPs. Works like TAKE THE A TRAIN ...
And I have several Dave Brubeck albums inherited from my father. I keep good care of them. They,too,
