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The principal merit of the saxophone is the varied beauty of its accent, sometimes serious, sometimes calm, sometimes impassioned. Saxology the latest offering from composer Wayne Alpern features 18 straight ahead jazz standard arrangements for the New York Saxophone Quartet. “The principal merit of the saxophone in my view is the varied beauty of its accent, sometimes serious, sometimes calm, sometimes impassioned, dreamy or melancholic, or vague, like the weakened echo of an echo, like the indistinct plaintiff moans of the breeze in the woods and, even better, like the mysterious vibrations of a bell, long after it has been struck; there does not exist another musical instrument that I know of that possesses this strange resonance, which is situated at the edge of silence.” – Hector Berlioz Arranger & Composer Wayne Alpern Saxology Artist: Wayne Alpern CD Title: Saxology Label: Henri Elkan Music Add Date: March 20, 2023 Street Date: March 31, 2023 WAYNE ALPERN is a New York City composer, arranger, and scholar who integrates popular and jazz idioms with classical techniques and repertoire to create a sophisticated contemporary style of cross-genre, or even post-genre music. After years of composing complex new music, he embraced his personal history and indigenous musical culture and fused them with his classical background and training. His work includes numerous jazz arrangements, string quartets, woodwind and brass quintets, mixed ensembles, pieces for string orchestra, and several piano works. Alpern’s innovative compositions, recompositions, and rearrangements have been performed and recorded by distinguished artists from diverse musical traditions. A native of Detroit immersed in the Motown sound, he studied at Oberlin College, University of Michigan, Yale University, and City University of New York, with additional work at Harvard, Juilliard, Wesleyan, and University of Pennsylvania. His musical scholarship and theoretical expertise focus on Schenkerian analysis and 20th-century music. He holds a law degree from Yale Law School and practiced civil litigation for nearly twenty years. He taught at Mannes College of Music, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and Cardozo Law School, worked at General Music Publishing, United Artists Music Publishing, and was Steve Reich’s editor. He is President and owner of Henri Elkan Music Publishing, Inc. and a lifetime member of the Society for Music Theory and American Musicological Society. He has lectured extensively in North America, Europe, and Russia. In his capacity as Founder and Director of the internationally acclaimed Mannes Institute for Advanced Studies in Music Theory, Alpern received the highly coveted Society for Music Theory Honorary Lifetime Membership Award recognizing his “substantial and longstanding accomplishments distinguishing the recipient and our discipline through his many good works on behalf of his fellow scholars and students of music theory for our collective benefit.” Alpern is a creative force not only in jazz, but also in the classical idiom. His 2022 release The Shape of Strings was a tour de force featuring the String Orchestra of New York City. This album was received with high praise from revered classical outlet Chalked Up Reviews. Brice Boorman proclaimed, “The Shape of Strings reflects Alpern’s keen sense of space and musical expression. The nine compositions imbue this with his idiomatic perception, striking a natural balance between activity and space, percussive phrases, and perfectly capturing beautiful melodies that will leave a lasting impression on the listener. Alpern’s extensive and scholarly understanding demonstrates his deep commitment to composition, but in the end, he releases himself from any confines and expresses himself from the heart. Well worth hearing.” George Harris of Jazzweekly has called Alpern’s recompositions “a panoply of soundscapes, ” touting his brilliance, while Raul da Gama of Jazzdagama writes, “The prodigious experimentalist and musician Wayne Alpern . . . dazzles with his sheer virtuoso performance. Mr. Alpern separates himself from prominent minimalists such as Philip Glass and Steve Reich, aligning himself more towards the cubist density of Terry Riley than anyone else; although, throughout the creation and execution of this repertoire, Wayne Alpern remains indomitably Wayne Alpern.” Players: instrument WAYNE ALPERN Arranger STEVE KENYON Soprano Saxophone TODD GROVES Alto Saxophone DAVE NOLAND Tenor Saxophone JOHN WINDER Baritone Saxophone TRACKS: All the Things You Are Anthropology Do Re Mi Fascinating Rhythm Hide Your Love Away It Never Entered My Mind Joy Spring Lady Is a Tramp Little Darlin’ Lonely Goatherd Moten Swing My Foolish Heart Nessun Dorma People Rocker Turn Out the Stars Two Sleepy People When I’m Sixty-Four |
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