The Eloquent Saxophone

David Tanner, saxophones.  Marc Widner, piano.
Navona 6158
Total Time:  54:35
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Saxophonist David Tanner has had a couple of albums released on the Navona label.  Here we have a re-issue of an earlier 1988 recording that explores different incarnations of Adolphe Saxe’s instrument in many standard literature works for the instrument as well as some transcriptions.  He is accompanied by pianist Marc Widner.  The rather delightful album is an excellent opportunity to discover Tanner’s own innate joy at sharing this music with listeners.

There are several brief works on the album which begins with the “Serenade Comique” from Francaix’s 1935 Petit Quartet for saxophones, all parts played here by Tanner through the use of multi-tracking.  “La Blues” is another delightful intermixing of different saxophones in this arrangement of music by jazz pianist Gene DiNovi.  Five of these smaller works are grouped together in the second half of the program.  First up is a delicate exploration of Debussy’s Syrinx and a transcription of Schumann’s “Romance No. 1”.  A standard repertoire work for the instrument appears in the delightful Caprice en forme de Valse by the conductor Paul Bonneau (1918-1995).  A little etude, number 8 from Charles Koechlin’s set of fifteen Etudes, Op. 188 (1942-43) follows with the delightful little “Nola” by Felix Arndt closing out this section of the album in an encore-quality performance.  Each provides a rather good overview of the sax’s capabilities as well as Tanner’s warm tone and gorgeous phrasing coupled with great technical skill.  Some of these recordings tend to be slightly “hotter” than the ones with the piano mix, but this is not distracting in the long run.  The variety here is one of the recommendable qualities of the release.

Several larger chamber pieces are spread across the album.  The first of these is Tcherepnin’s Sonatine Sportive (1939) which exists in versions for bassoon, and cello as well.  The three movement work is along a more modernist period with rather interesting harmonic surprises.  It is a fun little work with a beautiful lyrical central movement and a fast paced race for its final “Course.”  Another important repertoire selection comes from Paule Maurice who wrote her Tableaux Provence (1954-59) for the great saxophonist Marcel Mule.  There are five brief movements here that allow exploration of virtuosity and technique with a final bumblebee movement to wrap up the work.  The music here comes out of a sort of post Les Six French modernism (think Jolivet).  The album closes with a work by Leslie Bassett, a composer known for his exploration of blend of experimental and traditional sounds in music that is often accessible.  His Music for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1968) is another of the important standard repertoire works for the instrument.  The music here is in a more semi-atonal style with additional interesting pianistic techniques exploring alternative methods for producing sound in the piano (plucking strings), in addition to harmonic clusters and a host of more dissonance than can be picked up in the earlier works.  It is a more austere, but no less intriguing work to close off this full recital.

David Tanner’s program is really engaging.  It explores a variety of modern styles of writing for the saxophone in pieces that help illustrate his own technical facility and musicality.  It is a must-have for students of the instruments and those who enjoy 20^th-Century music.

Something More: Jazz Music of Timothy Lee Miller
Annalise Stalls, alto sax/flute; Dave Finucane, tenor sax; Brandon Lee, trumpet;
Evan Ringle, trombone; Chris Boerner, guitar; Thomas Linger, piano; Steve Haines, bass; Daniel Faust, drums.
Jason Prover, trumpet/flugelhorn; Chris Bittner, tenor sax; Michael O’Brien, bass; Charles Goold, drums.
Ansonica Records 0006
Total Time: 55:15
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Ansonica’s latest release brings a collection of jazz-influenced pieces by composer Timothy Lee Miller.  He is a highly-recognized and awarded composer with an emphasis in concert and jazz music, though he has also written for film and television.  Miller has selected 8 works here each with a personal connection to members of his family.  The result here is the perfect little jazz ensemble album for any drive time.

“Sebastian’s Day Off” opens with a rather laid back jazz ensemble number.  After a rather relaxed opening, the music begins to pick up the pace and begins a rather exciting unfolding of a small motif that launches into a faster sax solo section.  The music here follows a typical day in the park with the composer’s son.  Hi aunt Ruby is honored next in “Ruby in the Ruff”.  There is some great interplay here between sax, piano, and guitar as the primary melody here is beautifully laid out.  After these fairly “typical” jazz rhythms, there is the first of the intriguing highlights of the album in “Dear Della Mae”  In this almost noir-ish number, Miller uses a 13-8 meter to create a rather cool rhythmic line that repeats almost like a passacaglia while the solo lines provide a variety of improvisational lines across this rather intriguing rhythmic idea.  We move into a more touching and reflective piece in “Inky and Marie”, this is along the lines of a soulful and emotional style.  The second half of the album opens with a jazz waltz, “Stellee & Jack” giving over some solo work for trumpet.  “Poochie’s Waltz”, written for another of the composer’s aunts, continues this exploration of this meter with a touching and reflective portrait.  They are separated by the fascinating “Boo’s Bolero”.  The album ends with a mesmerizing final reflective work that gives its name to the CD.  Here, intricate piano lines help move the opening forward until we arrive at light jazz section.  There is something about this that recalls Paul Winter releases, though decidedly less on the New Age front.

Miller’s jazz works here are quite accessible and really the album is a great jazz release of often touching and emotional music mixed with a variety of interesting rhythmic and solo work by the performers.  The interplay with the different solo lines is quite inviting as well.  Each of the tracks, even with its often touching inspirational story, work fine as pure jazz ensemble works.  That said, the album comes across as a rather beautiful love letter to Miller’s close and extended family.  This is one of the great little surprises of Ansonica’s catalogue worth tracking down.