Tag Archives: saxophone

MTH-V: Michael Brecker

Leave a reply

This past Friday (01.13) marked the fifth anniversary of Michael Brecker‘s death. His music and musicianship definitely touches me still. Not only was he one of the tenor saxophone’s greatest technicians, but he played with a deep intensity and emotional to match.

Of the many reasons to love Michael’s playing and ethic, one that particularly stands out to me is his stylistic versatility, having attained a great degree of commercial success in pop music while maintaining a career as a heavy, widely-respected jazz musician. His funk and fusion work with his brother Randy in the Brecker Brothers is of course widely known to most musicians, but his work with James Taylor, Joni Mitchell (if you aren’t familiar with Shadows and Light, go buy it right now), and Paul Simon exposed his name and playing to a much wider audience. (His solo on James Taylor’s “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” is classic.) And then of course his more straight ahead and avant-garde jazz roots shone brightly in his solo work and that with his longtime collaborators in Saxophone Summit. (His playing was evidence of his deep love for Coltrane’s late period. In fact, it made his passing the day after Alice Coltrane‘s death that much more eerie.)

While there are hundreds of videos I could choose from, I’ve chosen only a few. This first video is from a Vienna performance of Herbie’s “The Sorcerer” with Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Willie Jones III. I saw Michael Brecker live with a variation of this band (with bassist Scott Colley and the always intense Terri Lyne Carrington on drums) a couple months before his disease was made public. Brecker was quite pale, and, though he spent much of the night sitting on a stool or offstage when not playing, he absolutely destroyed Detroit’s Orchestra Hall. Enjoy Herbie ripping it up at the top; Brecker’s solo starts at 3:55.

Just when you thought Brecker had no need for improvements, here’s an excerpt of a 1996 interview with Jazz’s web documentarian Bret Primack:

And what post remembering Michael would be complete with Brecker Brothers’ “Some Skunk Funk”? (With Mike Stern, drummer Dennis Chambers [whom you should recognize from the Stern/Berg post], bassist James Genus, and keyboardist George Whitty.) This is BURNIN’!

MTH-V: Evan Parker Solo

Leave a reply

Finally, what I intended to post a few weeks ago.

Over the past couple years I’ve become quite taken with Evan Parker. I hadn’t heard of him until I blindly purchased Boustrophedon, one of his two albums co-led with Roscoe Mitchell and their Transatlantic Art Ensemble – a real nice album! (I’ve since purchased the companion Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2, & 3, and it’s just as wonderful and intriguing.) I’m thankful I purchased that album, as it exposed me to a truly unique saxophonic voice. In that same spirit of thanks, I found it only appropriate to finally post these videos this week.

For those who aren’t familiar with Mr. Parker, and I’m guessing that’ll be almost all of you, he’s a British free saxophonist. I’d say free jazz saxophonist, however that’s a bit constraining, as you’ll no doubt gather from these two videos. While he has made records in more “traditional” jazz formats, he’s mostly known for his all-out sonic assaults in a variety of settings. One of his biggest contributions has been to the area of solo saxophone improvisation, having released a number of albums in the genre. (Go to this site and select Evan Parker -> Solo Saxophone for an idea.) As a result, I chose these two videos to serve as an appropriate introduction.

These selections come from a live 1985 performance in London. (I’ve spent many late nights captivated by these and other Parker videos.) It’s best to let Parker speak for himself, so all I really should say is:
1. Note his casual execution of a plethora of extended techniques. What’s better is the fact that he uses them as a means to an end in order to properly express whatever it is he’s hearing, as opposed to simply “showing off.” In fact, it regularly sounds as if more than one instrument is being performed.
2. Keep open ears and an open mind. And most of all, enjoy! 🙂

PS – Imagine my excitement to secure this album in, hopefully, the near future…

MTH-V: Jeff Coffin w. DMB compilation

Leave a reply

I mentioned in the Marcus Miller post from two weeks ago that Jeff Coffin liked music that moved him via his heart, head, rear end, or all three. For over a decade Coffin has been not only one of my favorite saxophonists, but one of my favorite musicians. Without getting too sentimental here, his playing consistently cuts to my core. It’s deep, complex, “out,” and yet maintains an overall “pop” sensibility that ties it all together. Sure, he can be wailing on extensions or multiphonics, but if he’s doing that then he’s backing it up with a solid rhythmic foundation that’ll keep most people tapping their toes regardless.

Briefly, in case you’re saying, “Who’s Jeff Coffin?”: A UNT grad, he originally gained recognition after joining Béla Fleck & The Flecktones in 1997. Since then he’s also released a number of (unfortunately) little-known yet amazing solo albums (I have them all). In 2008, he joined the Dave Matthews Band to replace LeRoi Moore after his sudden injury and eventual death that summer. (Being a DMB fanatic, imagine my guilt of always wanting to see Coffin sit in with DMB, only to have it actualized via Roi’s departure and passing…)

This week’s video is a compilation of Jeff’s solos from Dave Matthews Band’s performance at Rothbury 2008. He had sat in as a guest with DMB sporadically since 1998, but this was his fourth show as the full-time/only saxophonist after joining the band with a day’s notice. The video was snagged from a live feed that was broadcast during the festival, and it’s a great compilation featuring his solos on the following songs, in order: “Seek Up,” “Grey Street,” “#41,” “Jimi Thing,” and a small clip of “Anyone Seen The Bridge?” (with the Strauss interpolation). It’s also a great compilation because I of course attended the show, and remember it like it was yesterday. 🙂

A little treat, here’s a video I was lucky to stumble upon a few years ago of Jeff sitting in with DMB on “Two Step” in April 2002. This had long been one of my favorite solos I acquired from the taping community, so imagine my surprise when the video eventually surfaced! Throughout the song, Béla and all of the Flecktones sit in, but this clip is Coffin’s solo only. (I recommend watching the whole thing if you have time.) In under three minutes, he covers all the musical bases. (And imagine my frustration that this occurred on 04.21.02 – I saw them on 04.23.02 and 04.26.02. Oh well, the shows were still great. :))

Primary Sources

Leave a reply

I spent most of January in a bit of a musical rut. Practicing was a challenge, I barely listened to any recordings (new or old), and I could hardly think about music without getting at least mildly annoyed. Part of it probably had to do with getting musically overloaded around Christmas. I acquired and listened to so many new recordings between the end of November and beginning of January that I just needed to give my ears and mind a rest. Also I had few things to play for, which definitely worked against me. My proactive reaction to this a couple weeks ago was to “get back to basics,” starting with listening. So what did this saxophonist listen to to stoke the embers? Yep, you guessed it: Smashing Pumpkins.

…?

Over the course of about a week, I listened to almost the entire SP catalogue (I tried to not be too completist about it…). That constituted the bulk of my listening, with a smattering of other 90s bands sprinkled in. Ah, good old 90s rock – you really can’t beat it. While it wasn’t entirely conscious, it took me about 10-14 days to listen to anything remotely saxophonic or “art music”-esque. On the surface one may consider these two disparate groups (the aforementioned rockers & sax/contemporary styles). However, just a couple days into this regimen I was happily practicing and brainstorming, ready to forge ahead once again.

I did not listen to the above bands/styles to remind myself of why I play saxophone. Rather, I listened as a reminder of why I started to become passionate about music in the first place. Smashing Pumpkins was the first group I made a deep connection to. To an adolescent Mike Teager, SP was music. The incredible variety on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) showed me that a rock band could be multi-dimensional, and that the musical possibilities could be endless. Gradually, this led to TOOL and Dave Matthews Band, then to Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and also to the classical realm (Wagner & 20th Century music, specifically), etc. This lineage continues to expand, right up through present day, but it’s always healthy to return to the source. (Though, I must say that 16 years later I’ll still put Mellon Collie up against any masterpiece in another style. There’s enough diversity and nuance to busy any musician, from the amateur to the academic.) For too long, I feel like I got a bit lost in secondary and tertiary sources – artists and groups I later discovered through a long aesthetic evolution. After a while, it got to the point that I lost touch with those original, primary sources of inspiration. It reminded me of a great quote by Oliver Nelson:

“…I finally had broken through and realized that I would have to be true to myself, to play and write what I think is vital and, most of all, to find my own personality and identity. This does not mean that a musician should reject and shut things out. It means that he should learn, listen, absorb and grow but retain all the things that comprise the identity of the individual himself.”
– From the liner notes to Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961)

Now I feel armed and ready for a couple recording projects I’ve recently taken up, as well as some gigs coming down the pike. (Note: of course the recording endeavors also played an integral role in my rejuvenation.) Concurrently with my mental recharging, I thought a lot about personal sound/style, what that means to me, and how to describe it. (I’ve always had an abstract but consistent idea of what it is I’m after, but describing it in words is another story.) Hopefully I’ll start to document that process in some sort of ongoing series here in the relatively near future. Until then, I’ll be in the woodshed…

New Listen: PRISM Quartet’s ‘Antiphony’

Leave a reply


Artist: PRISM Quartet
Album: Antiphony (2010)

This album is “newish” for me as I got it a few month ago, however I wanted to shift away from jazz for this post, and I was recently able to give this album the careful listen it deserves.  In case you’re unfamiliar, PRISM is arguably the premiere classical saxophone quartet in North America.  The ensemble  has not only championed new music for saxophone quartet (largely outside of France), but it has done much to promote the saxophone within the classical community.  Antiphony (2010), the latest release, features PRISM in collaboration with Music From China, a quartet focusing on both traditional and contemporary Chinese music.  This (at times) double quartet features mostly new music blending Eastern and Western styles.

From the liner notes:
“Representing profound contrasts of timbre and culture, this ‘odd couple’ of traditional Chinese instruments and saxophones bridges remarkable distances of space and time.  The instruments of Music From China…have been played for a millennium or more.  The saxophone, in contrast, bears a French patent dating from the Industrial Revolution.” -Alyssa Timlin, p. 5

(While I don’t/won’t make a habit of quoting liner notes, it’s appropriate in this instance.)

Overall, the two ensembles gel nicely within each composition.  There are only a few instances, for me, in which I’m caught off guard a bit.  All but two of the compositions feature a mixed ensemble. (Lang’s Yuan features saxophone quartet only, and Dun’s Shuang Que for Erhu and Yangqin features only members of Music From China.)  The multi-movement works which bookend the album – Songs for Huqin and Saxophone Quartet and Chinatown, respectively – are the most accessible, helping to ease the listener (especially the layperson) into and out of the more abstract selections.  Songs is one of this album’s many highlights, as its ethereal, almost filmic first movement, “Pastorale,” serves as a wonderful introduction to the album’s materials and overall concept.  PRISM and MFC are introduced separately, but quickly combine into a single lyrical soundscape.  Yuan, however, is arguably the collection’s most abstract composition.  (I attended one of the first public performances of this work by PRISM and experiencing the work in context with the rest of the pieces, it made much more sense to me.)  Many extended techniques are featured throughout – this should be of particular interest for saxophonists – such as multiphonics, slap-tonguing, and playing the mouthpiece alone.

Without going into great detail about each composition individually (that’s not the purpose of these entries, but rather a “quick review), suffice it to say that there’s much variety in this album, featuring many different avenues of the general “East meets West” motif.  What I like most about Antiphony is that the music is organic and genuine, as opposed to the forced “third stream-esque” nonsense that is often the result combining disparate styles (a serious pet peeve of mine).  In fact, the successful blending of both instrumentation and styles make one wonder if the album’s title is a misnomer.  This would make a great investment for any serious classical saxophonist, or anyone interested in new/contemporary music.

Innova (record label) link here
Amazon link here
iTunes link here