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REVIEW: The Star-Ledger
03/27/01
Classical CDs:
"New York Suite"
The New Jersey Saxophone Ensemble
THREE STARS
Quartz Saxophone Quartz
(black box)
TWO AND A HALF STARS
The saxophone is a funny beast; it can either disguise itself as a brass or reed instrument, or both. These two discs display two quartets that have taken opposite tacks in developing their group sound between these polarities.
The New Jersey Saxophone Ensemble's debut disc shows off a mellow blend and a wide, broad group tone that clearly models itself after that of a brass quintet. This self-produced disc (available by e-mailing [info@njsax.com] or calling 973-347-3679) is a perky tribute to all of the saxophone's ancestry: There is a sharply arranged version of a Scott Joplin rag, Jersey composer Paquito D'Rivera's "New York Suite" with its jazz-inflected humor, and two modern arrangements of works by Bach and Sweelinck. Works by Michael Torke and Roberto di Marino show off this group's ability for contemporary music. In all, it's a polished recording that shows off the finely honed flavor of this group, as well as its curiosity for things both modern and old.
Quartz Saxophone Quartet is a young British group whose disc of all-new music, named after a suite by Alexander Levine, takes a sharply different tack. The ensemble sound is pressured, narrowed, inflected more toward the reedy and more astringent sound of a woodwind group. Works by Michael Nyman, Gary Carpenter and John Buckley. as well as Levine, push the envelope much further, but the group's technical acuity is less finely honed. This is a more searing disc as far as repertoire, but slightly less satisfying in the deliver.
— Willa J. Conrad
— click here for audio clips — — click here to order cd —
