Saxophone quartets can blend like a choral group, swing like a gypsy band, and possess a range of tone from angelic breath to screeching slaughterhouse animal. They have a weight-challenging property, like the gravity on the moon or a balloon filled with a mix of helium and air.
NPR Theme by Washington Saxaphone Quartet
Everyone knows the Washington Saxophone Quartet, the ubiquitous National Public Radio theme played so beautifully by these wooden reeded phones. I recently found their recording Daydream. A gorgeous amalgam of our modern classical favorites: Barber, Piazzolla, Copland, as well as traditional pieces from around Europe.
My favorite is the new-choral style arrangement of “What Fragrance is This”. This ensemble’s blend is unworldly.
I also happened upon the record Miroirs by French accordionist Marcel Azzola and the Quatuor de Saxophones Inédits, or Unpublished Saxaphone Quartet. The recording features the four saxes acting as accompaniment to Azzola’s accordion on some standard musette tunes: Swing Valse, Indifférence. But the Quartet also records Indifférence without Azzola in a reharmonized and more modern saxaphone quartet way. Developing the theme as in a series of variations. This recording is beautiful and the arrangements and playing are beautiful. A wonderful chamber-jazz vision of musette.
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Another post about Jean-Louis Matinier and Renaud Garcia-Fons
Another post about Be-bop Accordion
