David Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ Band to Release ‘Beyond Now’

The musicians who backed David Bowie on Blackstar are putting out an album. Oct. 14 will see the release of Beyond Now by saxophonist Donny McCaslin, which includes covers of Bowie’s “A Small Plot of Land” and “Warszawa.” It is McCaslin's 12th record.

"David Bowie was a visionary artist whose generosity, creative spirit, and fearlessness will stay with me the rest of my days," McCaslin said in a statement reprinted at Rolling Stone. "Beyond Now is dedicated to him and to all who loved him."

McCaslin’s band — bassist Tim Lefebvre, pianist Jason Lindner and drummer Mark Guiliana — began performing “Warszawa,” from 1977’s Low, during a run at New York’s Village Vanguard shortly after Bowie’s death on Jan. 10 of this year, according to Entertainment Weekly.  Their take on “A Small Plot of Land,” which appeared on 1995’s Outside and can be heard below, came at the request of producer David Binney. Jeff Taylor provides the vocals.

Their time with Bowie influenced the title track, with McCaslin saying that it was “directly inspired by a song of David’s that we recorded during the Blackstar sessions, but that didn’t make the final record. All the originals were written last summer — before he passed away, but while the Blackstar recordings were still really fresh. Songs of his were just kind of running through my unconscious. That was part of it.”

Bowie knew that McCaslin and his band were planning to record his songs, but he never got to hear the final result. “I went over to his place in November of last year and we were listening to Blackstar,” he continued. “I was hearing it for the first time. I told him that I was checking out his discography, looking to adapt some of his tunes. He seemed happy [laughs]. He was looking forward to hear what he would do with them, was my impression.”

Listen to Donny McCaslin Cover David Bowie’s “A Small Plot of Land”

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