Volume 23 Issue 6 - March 2018

Something in the Air
One Is the Loneliest Number –
Or Is It?
KEN WAXMAN
Although there were isolated experiments
dating back to the 1940s, the watershed
recording of saxophone solos was Anthony
Braxton’s double LP For Alto in 1969.
Comparably innovative sets by Evan Parker
and Steve Lacy followed soon afterwards.
Since then, many exploratory reedists have
added their own challenging chapters to the
solo saxophone literature.
One of them is Braxton himself, whose most recently recorded
alto foray is Solo – Victoriaville 2017 (Victo cd 130 victo.qc.ca), nine
tracks from a concert at last year’s Festival International de Musique
Actuelle de Victoriaville in Quebec. Nearly a half-century after For
Alto, Braxton is still showcasing novel approaches. Interestingly
enough, while all the tunes except for the standard Body and Soul
have abstract titles, at this juncture hints of melodies and inferences
to tunes as unanticipated as Everything Happens to Me, It’s Now or
Never, Strike Up the Band and even The Anniversary Song insinuate
themselves into the improvisations. This is no game of Name that
Tune however, for Braxton’s talents are communicated through the
technical alchemy obvious on each track. For instance, No 394c elongates
the narrative line until it’s suddenly shaped into a balladic
melody. The same sort of tunefulness informs the introductory
No 392a; here, shaky cadenzas turn moderato when Braxton emphasizes
the chalumeau register. At the same time no one would mistake
Braxton for a member of Guy Lombardo’s sax section. Sophisticated
funk works its way into the circular breathing and overblowing on
No 392c, while its tremolo exposition showcases pauses and timbre
extensions. More characteristically, No 394a consists of near-stifled
reed screams, tongue slapping and pressurized action, culminating
in terminal growling. Plus No 392b evolves with Flight of the
Bumblebee-like buzzing swiftness, with multiple slurred and staccato
notes tried on for size. As the balladic inferences slide by in nanoseconds,
the improvisation’s finale is packed with innumerable pitches
and tones. Yet, when Braxton tackles Body and Soul in tremolo double
time, the distinctive theme is present along with a traditional final
recapping of the head.
Three decades Braxton’s junior, Chicago’s
Dave Rempis follows an analogous but
distinct route on Lattice (Aerophonic 015
aerophonicrecords.com) by bookending his
improvisations with two jazz standards.
Although Rempis plays alto, tenor and baritone
saxophone, his strategy is similar on
each horn – using its distinctive properties
to better describe the improvisations. Billy
Strayhorn’s A Flower is a Lovesome Thing and Eric Dolphy’s Serene
are treated no differently than the abstract improvisations. Playing
baritone on the former, he digs deep, shaking textures from the
instrument’s body tube that accelerate from snorts to screams before
creating variations on a mellow version of the theme. Dolphy’s avantgarde
credentials are emphasized with stratospheric whistles, duck
quacks and chicken cackles in the middle of Serene following a near
inchoate theme elaboration by the alto saxophone. However the piece
climaxes with rhapsodic mellowness and the head recapped. The most
impressive instance of Rempis’ solo musicianship is on If You Get Lost
in Santa Paula, where he inveigles a collection of tongue slaps and
pops into captivating textures that are almost danceable and certainly
rhythmic, then maintains this mouth percussion until the end. A
track like Horse Court demonstrates how he can output enough bites
and beeps for two saxophonists in counterpoint while using spatial
dimensions to bounce back the sound; meanwhile Loose Snus proves
that split tones and spetrofluctuation can be vibrated into satisfying
storytelling.
Swedish alto saxophonist Martin Küchen is
also involved with spatial properties since
Lieber Heiland, laß uns sterben (SOFA
Music 60 sofamusic.no) was recorded in the
crypt of the cathedral in Lund, Sweden and
utilizes field recording, an iPod, speakers
and electronics plus overdubbed saxophone
lines. An idea of how this works is Ruf Zu
Mer Bezprizorni…, where the distant sounds
of piano students rehearsing Baroque classics cause Küchen to
retaliate with mocking squeaks and puffs, plus percussive slaps that
emphasize the saxophone’s metal body. Music To Silence Music in
contrast makes the ancient crypt walls another instrument, as they
vibrate and echo back the initial saxophone lowing and air-piercing
extensions, the equivalent of overdubbed reed parts. Real overdubbing
to a multiple of six is used on Amen Choir, but when coupled with
low-pitched electronic drones and the outdoor noises leaking into the
space, the results not only almost replicate scrubs and sawing on
double bass strings, but also suggest a near visual picture of reed
breaths floating across the sound field. Far-off pealing church bells
make the perfect coda. Küchen’s solo design has non-Western
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Tones & Colors
Liza Stepanova
Acclaimed pianist Liza Stepanova
takes the listener on a multisensory
adventure featuring three centuries
of music with a special connection
to visual art.
The People's Purcell
Michael Slattery / La Nef
The People’s Purcell reunites tenor
Michael Slattery and La Nef to
perform some of the most beautiful
music by Henry Purcell (1659-1695).
thewholenote.com March 2018 | 81