Anthony Frederick Levin is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (1981–2021) and Peter Gabriel. He is also a member of Liquid Tension Experiment, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (1998–2000) and HoBoLeMa (2008–2010). He has led his own band, Stick Men, since 2010.
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's "Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of many hits in collaboration with Marc Bolan. Visconti's lengthiest involvement was with David Bowie: intermittently from the production and arrangement of Bowie's 1968 single "In the Heat of the Morning" / "London Bye Ta-Ta" to his final album Blackstar in 2016, Visconti produced and occasionally performed on many of Bowie's albums. Visconti's work on Blackstar was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and his production of Angelique Kidjo's Djin Djin received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
Ben Monder is an American modern jazz guitarist.
"Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, released on his 1969 album David Bowie. It was one of the first songs produced by Tony Visconti.
David Binney is an American alto saxophonist and composer.
Mark Guiliana is a Grammy-nominated American drummer, composer and leader of the band Beat Music. He has played with Avishai Cohen, Brad Mehldau, David Bowie, Meshell Ndegeocello, Gretchen Parlato, Jason Lindner, Lionel Loueke, Dhafer Youssef, Tigran Hamasyan, Matisyahu, St. Vincent, the European piano trio Phronesis and his own groups, Heernt and the Mark Giuliana Jazz Quartet.
Donald Paul McCaslin is an American jazz saxophonist. He has recorded over a dozen albums as a bandleader in addition to many sideman appearances, including on David Bowie's final studio album, Blackstar (2016).
Bjorn Englen is the bass player for Soul Sign and Dio Disciples. Bjorn has also played bass for Yngwie Malmsteen, Quiet Riot, MSG/Survivor vocalist Robin McAuley, Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth and Tony MacAlpine.
"Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" is a song by English musician David Bowie released on 17 November 2014 as the lead single from the 2014 compilation album Nothing Has Changed. Co-produced by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Visconti, the song originated after the two saw bandleader and composer Maria Schneider perform with her orchestra in May 2014. They began collaborating on Bowie's first major project since The Next Day (2013). Following workshop sessions in mid-June, the track was recorded officially at Avatar Studios in New York on 24 July 2014, with contributions from Schneider's orchestra.
Good Piranha / Bad Piranha is a modern jazz album by Wayne Krantz. The album consists of four songs played in two separate sets with two intertwined trios. Songs themselves are only being thematically utilized as vehicles for improvisation, containing only main themes from the original songs with everything else being completely improvised. Krantz elaborated on this in the liner notes of the album
"Did some cover nights a while ago at 55 Bar. Realized it didn’t matter what songs we play, we still do our thing. These songs are fine, but it could have been anything. Went into the studio for 2 days, cut loose. Still like playing guitar.”
Jason Lindner is an American pianist, keyboardist, synthesist, sound designer, composer, arranger and producer.
"Blackstar" is a song by English rock musician David Bowie. It was released as the lead single from his twenty-sixth and final studio album of the same name on 19 November 2015. "Blackstar" peaked at number 61 on the UK Singles Chart, number 70 on the French Singles Chart and number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Blackstar" received both the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song and the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance at the 59th Grammy Awards. At 9:57, it was the longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 charts, overtaking Harry Chapin's "A Better Place to Be", until Tool broke the record in 2019 with "Fear Inoculum".
Blackstar is the 26th and final studio album by the English musician David Bowie. Released on 8 January 2016, Bowie's 69th birthday, the album was recorded in secret in New York City with his longtime co-producer Tony Visconti and a group of local jazz musicians: Donny McCaslin, Jason Lindner, Tim Lefebvre and Mark Guiliana. The album contains re-recorded versions of two songs, "Sue " and "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore", both of which were originally released in 2014.
"Lazarus" is a song by English rock musician David Bowie. Released on 17 December 2015 as a digital download, it was the second single from his twenty-sixth and final studio album, Blackstar (2016). It is Bowie's last single to be released during his lifetime. The single received its world premiere on BBC Radio 6 Music's Steve Lamacq on the day of its release as a single. In addition to its release on Blackstar, the track is used in Bowie's off-Broadway musical of the same name. The official music video, directed by Johan Renck, was released on 7 January 2016, three days before Bowie's death.
"Dollar Days" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It is the sixth track on Bowie's twenty-sixth and final studio album, Blackstar, which was released on 8 January 2016. The track was written by Bowie, and it was produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti. "Dollar Days" charted in multiple countries, including Bowie's home country of the United Kingdom, in which the song peaked at number 138.
"I Can't Give Everything Away" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It is the seventh and final track on his twenty-sixth and final studio album, Blackstar (2016), and was released posthumously as the album's third and final single on 6 April 2016. The track was written by David Bowie and was produced by both him and Tony Visconti.
"'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" is a song by English musician David Bowie, released on 17 November 2014 as the B-side of "Sue ". Taking influence from John Ford's 1633 play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, the art rock song pits dark and violent lyrics against a rhythmic beat. Bowie recorded the track as a demo in mid-2014 at his home studio in New York City. The song, along with "Sue", was re-recorded for Bowie's twenty-sixth and final studio album, Blackstar (2016). The new version features the backing band from those sessions: saxophonist Donny McCaslin, pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana. Unlike the original, the remake is influenced by hip hop while reviewers compared Bowie's vocal performance to various 1970s tracks. The remake was positively received, with many highlighting the performances of the backing musicians. In the wake of Bowie's death, two days after Blackstar's release, "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" charted in multiple countries, including number 107 in the UK.
No Plan is an extended play, comprising songs written and recorded by English musician David Bowie, released posthumously on 8 January 2017. The release coincided with what would have been Bowie's 70th birthday, almost a year after his death. No Plan compiles the original songs written for Bowie's Off-Broadway musical, Lazarus, including the titular "Lazarus", "No Plan", "Killing a Little Time", and "When I Met You". The songs were first recorded by the cast of the musical as part of its official soundtrack. The recordings featured on No Plan come from the sessions for Bowie's twenty-sixth and final studio album Blackstar, with "Lazarus" appearing as the third track on the album. Upon release, No Plan debuted at #138 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 5,000 units in its first week there. The music video for the title track was also released in accompaniment with the EP. It was directed by Tom Hingston.
Henry Hey is an American keyboardist, songwriter, producer, arranger and musical director. He has worked with artists such as David Bowie, Empire of the Sun, Rod Stewart, and George Michael. As a solo artist, he is the co-founder of the jazz fusion band Forq and a member of the band Rudder. Hey has been a producer for a number of artists including Lucy Woodward, Tony Kadleck, Shunzo Ohno, Lisa Lisa. Hey's playing can also be heard on several major motion pictures including Ocean's Twelve, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Hundred-Foot Journey.
Rachel Eckroth is a Grammy nominated American singer-songwriter and keyboardist from Phoenix, Arizona. She is currently the keyboardist for alternative musician St. Vincent and singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright after being the keyboardist for jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, and The Meredith Vieira Show. Her album The Garden was released by Rainy Days Records in 2021 and was nominated for the 64th Annual Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.
