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While the history of the saxophone now extends back well over 150 years, nevertheless it is still one of the younger instruments in use in classical music. As such, it still has a long way to go in securing a widespread role on the concert platform, and truly exceptional repertoire for the instrument remains somewhat scarce. In contrast, the instrument was so quickly adapted by jazz musicians that it is almost impossible to imagine the music without the sound of the pithy soprano, the lithe alto, the warm-toned tenor and the robust baritone saxophones.
In selecting the compositions for Freeway, saxophonist Dan Goble sought to create a balanced collection of pieces that would accurately reflect his interests and those of his partner, pianist Jeff Hellmer. Both are noted performers and are active in the world of jazz as well as classical new music. Goble selected works which made full use of skills honed in both classical and jazz performance situations.
The first four compositions, according to Goble, are among the very finest recent pieces written for saxophone and piano-he feels, in fact, that the Wuorinen piece is among the "five best works composed for the instrument to date"-while the fifth is a standard from the world of jazz, though ironically composed not by a saxophonist but a trumpeter, the iconic Miles Davis.
For Goble, the Davis selection is the piece that holds the rest of the program together, uniting aspects from all four of the other pieces: "chordal structure, chance, improvisation, intensity, beauty." But the converse also holds true: he sees the sum total of the program as a sort of tribute to the challenges and sheer variety of styles found in Daviss own career.
Charles Ruggiero's Interplay (1988) for soprano saxophone and piano was written for saxophonist Joseph Lulloff as part of a 1987-89 NEA Consortium Commissioning project sponsored by Tulane University. Goble refers to the work as "a sort of Trane meets Igor type of piece," in that the work mixes stylistic aspects of Stravinskys neo-classical period with elements of modern jazz. Nothing is improvised, yet much gives the illusion of being extemporaneous.
The brisk first section, Octaves, is marked by a bustling piano figure strongly reminiscent of the boogie-woogie piano style, and several other jazzy devices appear in the piano part early on. The section takes its name from recurring passages in which the players play identical material in separate octaves. Both are instructed in a middle passage to sustain the steady pulse while giving the impression of "bouncing" off one another, playing in an animated and reactive style. Later the pianist is instructed to play a "walking bass" line in the right hand, while the left hand supplies minimalist chord stabs reminiscent of Count Basies trademark style-though these are clearly far different chords than any Basie himself might have employed. Throughout the section, virtuosic demands are made of both players.
Night Song, the second section, is a dreamy ballad played with jazzy rubato style, the pianist more clearly assigned the role of accompanist to the song of the saxophone. The third section, Departures, features the most overt references to specific jazz styles. The pianist begins with a whirlwind of arpeggiated figures, over which the saxophonist comments. This vibrant section suddenly gives way to a stretch of impressionistic chording from the pianist and a melancholy ballad from the saxophone. In a transition to the final bravura section, the saxophonist is instructed to play in the style of Lee Konitz, the post-bop altoist known for his cool, vibratoless sound. Shortly thereafter, the pianist is given a lengthy passage of repeated eighth note chords to be played "like a small bass drum," while the saxophonist is freed to soar to the end, the composer offering the inspiration with the words "Thank you Bird, Ornette
"
Charles Wuorinens Divertimento for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1982) is music for virtuoso players, as is everything penned by Wuorinen. Goble feels that the work is one of the greatest compositions for classical saxophone, alongside such works as Iberts Concertino da Camera, Ingolf Dahls concerto and Paul Crestons sonata. The work is seldom performed, he notes, because its parts are tremendously difficult to prepare and it makes exceptional demands upon the saxophonists agility in the high range of the instrument.
The piece opens with a strikingly lyrical passage for the saxophone over relatively minimal piano accompaniment, both jazzy chords and dry plucks, the time signature changing in almost every measure. This songfulness continues undeterred by the daunting rhythmic challenges the composer creates, as the piece accumulates momentum gradually but steadily over the course of several sections to its emphatic ending. The result is a composition as easily listenable as it is difficult to execute.
San Antonio (1994), John Harbison's Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, was written on commission for the World-Wide (Concurrent) Premieres and Commissioning Fund, Inc. The piece makes considerable technical demands, particularly at the high end of the players range, but clothes them in the seductive guise of a sensuous tango-like dance. Goble says that the piece "requires musicians to really loosen up to get a good performance. Saxophonists who have never played a gig in a smoky club might have difficulty presenting the right feel and vibe on this one."
The Summons begins with a striking syncopated rhythm in the piano that recurs through this first movement. The rhythm is the heart of the entire section, as it is pushed, pulled and fragmented by the two players. A climactic buildup to the conclusion is marked "unforgivably crude."
Line Dance, the second section, features a lyrical saxophone line over a moderately paced dance of the composers own invention. The final section, Couples Dance, is perhaps more evocative of tango than anything normally heard in San Antonio, more urbane than folkloric-but after all, these are the reminiscences of a traveler, and memory can play funny tricks.
The composer has supplied the following program notes for its three movements:
I. The Summons
The traveler has a free afternoon in San Antonio. It is August, 105 degrees. Expecting to start with the cool promenade along the river, he is instead lured by a sound. He follows it up a long stairway and finds himself in a little fiesta-a hot square, no shade, many people, a few dancing to a fast beat, the band playing and singing in Spanish.
II. Line Dance
The first dancers finish, exhausted. Then, as if on cue, practically the whole crowd gets into a line, all ages, nine to 90. They all know the steps, which change with the phrases.
III. Couples Dance
Then the music changes again, still slower; they go on in couples. No one seems to feel the heat; the band hardly stops. Everyone, the traveler included, sinks into it. Towards the end, a young girl asks the traveler to dance. He declines. But a year later, when the tourist jots down the memory of the sounds-something about a saxophone, and a few rhythms-in his distorted memory, he accepts.
Kevin Jay Isaacs's 4 Wheel Dr. (1998) was commissioned by and is dedicated to Dan Goble and Jeff Hellmer. Its four movements span the gamut of the four most commonly used members of the saxophone family, beginning with soprano in the first section, alto in the second, tenor in the third, and baritone in the final movement. There is no doubt that the piece was written with performers fluent in jazz in mind, particularly in the first and fourth movements, which require a great deal of improvisation.
The first movement, Freeway, requires the performers to "chase" one another using pre-determined cells upon which the improvisations are based; the players imitate one another as if anticipating the others moves in a high-speed car chase. The "blue" notes in the piano part and the slurs in the saxophone lines further lend a jazzy feel to the score.
In both the second and third movements, the piano is clearly assigned the role of accompanist to the saxophones lead. Avenue is a languorous slow movement, positioning a lyrical saxophone line against a simple chordal backdrop. Boulevard makes use of the smoky timbral associations inherent in the tenor saxophone for a ruminative ballad marked "dreamily" by the composer. In the final movement, Alley, Isaacs supplies the first 21 bars of written material, then allows the performers to improvise at will on a supplied chord progression for the next bars. Much of the remainder of the movement allows such freedom to the performers, culminating in a climactic passage marked "Wild Jam!" before its three concluding bars.
The composer has supplied the following notes regarding the piece:
I. Freeway
A road rage car chase on a major freeway at rush hour. The piano leads the way most of the time, with the poor saxophone player trying to catch up and keep up.
II. Avenue
A majestic stone church on a tree-lined avenue in a major city on a warm autumn afternoon. A chorale is heard from within the church and a haunting melody is heard from without
III. Boulevard
Midnight, and the smell of rum, cigars and perfume is wafting down the boulevard to the sounds of laughter, whispers and
well, you know, music and love.
IV. Alley
The unusual combination of items in an urban alley comes to mind: stripped cars, trash, fire escapes, rotting food and homeless jazz musicians living in refrigerator cartons, to name a few
Miles Davis's Blue in Green (1959): Recorded in 1959, Miles Davis's album Kind of Blue has earned the distinction of being one of the most universally acclaimed and popular recordings in the history of acoustic jazz. The tracks on the album were not through-composed; a definitive example of modal jazz, the tunes and improvisations were all based on slowly-shifting chord progressions in an effort, according to Davis, to "simplify" the music. An exceptional band, including saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and pianist Bill Evans, transformed Davis's sketches into an instantly memorable jazz standard.
According to Evans's original notes to the recording, Davis conceived the music for Kind of Blue only hours before the recording session, arriving for the date with mere sketches in hand. "Blue in Green," Evans states, is "a 10-measure circular form following a four-measure introduction, and played by soloists in various augmentation and diminution of time values." Here, the piece affords Goble and Hellmer a chance to stretch out and flex their jazz muscles in relaxed, sympathetic improvisation.
-Steve Smith
Charles Ruggiero (b. 1947) holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and Michigan State University, where he has taught music theory and composition since 1973. Although his compositional style is eclectic, much of Ruggiero's music reflects his lifelong interest in jazz. Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938) has been a forceful presence on the American musical scene for more than four decades. In 1970, Wuorinen became the youngest composer to win the Pulitzer Prize in music for his electronic composition Times Encomium. In 1962 he co-founded the Group for Contemporary Music, one of Americas most prestigious ensembles dedicated to performance of new chamber music. He is presently professor of composition at Rutgers University. John Harbison (b. 1938) received the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for The Flight into Egypt. He has been composer-in-residence with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Tanglewood, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the American Academy in Rome. Harbisons music has been performed by leading ensembles in the world, and his works have been recorded on the Nonesuch, Northeastern, New World and CRI labels. Kevin Jay Isaacs (b. 1959) is professor of music serving as director of choral studies and composer at Western Connecticut State University. He holds degrees in theory and composition from Texas Christian University and a doctorate in composition and choral conducting at the University of Arizona. Isaacss Agnus Dei was a required work for the 1992 National Collegiate Choral Competition. Miles Davis (19261991) was one of the foremost figures in jazz of the 20th century. Trumpeter Davis came to prominence during the bebop era of the 1940s, playing alongside saxophonist Charlie Parker. A restless innovator throughout a career that lasted over 50 years, Davis was at the heart of virtually every major innovation in jazz, from bebop to cool jazz, hard bop to modality, and finally as a prime architect of jazz-rock fusion.
Jeff Hellmer, pianist and educator, possesses a unique blend of abilities that allows him to be successful in the jazz, classical and commercial musical genres. He has performed and taught in locations as diverse as Connecticut, Alaska and Taiwan, and has worked with jazz artists Ernie Watts, Dick Oatts, Bill Watrous and Marvin Stamm. Hellmer has appeared as a soloist multiple times with Dallas Wind Symphony, including a recent concert where he served as conductor, arranger and soloist for the evening. Other chamber music work includes appearances with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and performances with faculty at the University of Texas at Austin. His most recent jazz CD, Peak Moments, with saxophonist Rick Margitza, is receiving wide national airplay. Critics praised Hellmers "mastery of the instrument" on his earlier solo piano CD Windows.
As director of jazz studies at the University of Texas at Austin, Hellmer conducts the acclaimed University of Texas Jazz Orchestra. He is in demand as a guest clinician and conductor, including appearances conducting the Iowa All-State Jazz Ensemble and the National Band Association Honors Jazz Band.
As a composer, his works for jazz ensemble are available through Concept Music, UNC Press and C. L. Barnhouse. He is co-author of the popular textbook Jazz Theory and Practice, published by Alfred.
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