page_title: Blackstar (album)
section_title: Background and recording
hierarchical_section_title: Blackstar (album) / Background and recording
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Ben Monder en concert au Moulin à Jazz, Vitrolles, France, novembre 2011English: American jazz guitarist Ben Monder, live at Le Moulin à Jazz (France), 2011-11
context_page_description: Blackstar is the twenty-fifth and final studio album by English musician David Bowie. It was released worldwide on 8 January 2016, coinciding with Bowie's 69th birthday, through his ISO label, Columbia Records and Sony Music. The album was largely recorded in secret between the Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in New York City with Bowie's longtime co-producer Tony Visconti and a group of local jazz musicians – comprising saxophonist Donny McCaslin, pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana; guitarist Ben Monder joined the ensemble for the final sessions. The album is more experimental than its predecessor The Next Day, combining art rock with different styles of jazz.
  For the album, Bowie took inspiration from electronic groups such as Boards of Canada and Death Grips as well as hip hop artists such as Kendrick Lamar. 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. It was preceded by the singles "Blackstar" and "Lazarus", both of which were supported by music videos.
context_section_description: David Bowie recorded Blackstar while suffering from liver cancer. Like his previous album The Next Day (2013), recording took place in secret at the Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in New York City, with production being co-handled by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Visconti. Bowie began writing and making demos for songs that appear on Blackstar as soon as sessions for The Next Day concluded. Two songs, "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" and "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore", had been previously released, but were re-recorded for Blackstar. The title of the latter derives from 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, a play by the 17th century English dramatist John Ford. The song "Lazarus" was included in Bowie's Off-Broadway musical of the same name.
  Bowie recruited a local New York jazz quintet led by saxophonist Donny McCaslin, and featuring other musicians including drummer Mark Guiliana, pianist Jason Lindner and bassist Tim Lefebvre, as the backing band for the sessions. The musicians were sent demos from Bowie in December 2014 in preparation for the sessions at the start of the new year. Visconti told Mojo: "If we'd used [Bowie's] former musicians they would be rock people playing jazz...Having jazz guys play rock music turns it upside down." Lefebvre later said that the band's chemistry made the sessions much easier. Bowie knew exactly what he wanted, so Lefebvre felt special that Bowie chose a band that was a "unit" and not a random set of studio musicians. Bowie also encouraged the band to try new things and experiment with ideas; Lindner told Rolling Stone, "He gave us the freedom to really just play, sort of be ourselves, and if we were hearing anything in particular, to try it out." Visconti gave consistent praise to the band, saying "They can play something at the drop of a dime".
  Recording began at the Magic Shop in the first week of 2015. The very first day in the studio, Lefebvre and Lindner met Bowie, Visconti and engineer Kevin Killen for the first time, after which they got straight to work. According to biographer Nicholas Pegg, most of the rhythm tracks were recorded in one or two takes. Tracks for both Blackstar and the Lazarus musical were recorded: "Lazarus" and "When I Met You" were recorded on 3 January, followed by the re-recording of "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" two days later and "No Plan" on 7 January. During the week, Bowie celebrated his 68th birthday; his wife Iman visited him in the studio and the band played an avant-garde rendition of "Happy Birthday". Following the January sessions, further recording commenced in blocks; according to Pegg, they lasted four to six days each, in the first week of February and the third week of March. Bowie emailed demos to the musicians before each session. The backing band were reportedly unaware of Bowie's declining health – according to McCaslin, the band worked with Bowie "essentially from 11 to 4 every day", while Lefebvre stated that "it never looked to us like he was sick".
  James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem was present during the second block of recording; his work on Arcade Fire's Reflektor inspired Bowie to create a remix of "Love Is Lost" for The Next Day Extra. The re-recording of "Sue (Or In a Season of Crime)" took place on 2 February (featuring Murphy on percussion), while "Girl Loves Me" followed a day later, "Someday" on 4 February and "Dollar Days" on 6 February. "Dollar Days" was created without a preliminary demo being made for the song. McCaslin later stated that Bowie one day "just picked up a guitar ... he had this little idea, and we just learned it right there in the studio." For the March sessions, the band was joined jazz guitarist Ben Monder, who played on the original recording of "Sue". The title track was recorded on 20 March, with "I Can't Give Everything Away" following a day later, and "Killing a Little Time" and a remake of "Someday" (now retitled "Blaze") on 23 March; further overdubs commenced the following day. Although Bowie performed his vocals live while the band was playing during the Magic Shop sessions, he and Visconti 
caption: Ben Monder joined the band for the March sessions as an additional guitarist.
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