World Saxophone Quartet Takin’ It 2 The Next Level

World Saxophone Quartet - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint and Soul Note (2012) {6CD Set CAM Jazz BXS 1015} (Hamiet Bluiett)
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© 1978-93, 2012 CAM LONDON / KEPACH MUSIC | BXS 1015
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

The World Saxophone Quartet was and continues to be a potent force on the modern jazz scene. This boxed set collection includes remastered versions of some of their earliest albums recorded for the Italian Black Saint/Soul Note labels during the 1970s and 1980s. These albums feature the original lineup of Julius Hemphill on alto and soprano saxophones and flute, Oliver Lake on alto and soprano saxophones, Hamiet Bluiett on baritone saxophone and alto clarinet and David Murray on tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. This six disc set includes the albums: Steppin’ With The World Saxophone Quartet, W.S.Q., Revue, Live In Zurich, Live At the Brooklyn Academy Of Music and Moving Right Along.

Celebrating 40 years as a performing ensemble, the West Coast saxophone quartet ROVA of Bruce Ackley on soprano saxophone, Steve Adams on alto & sopranino saxophones, Jon Raskin on baritone saxophone, and Larry Ochs on tenor saxophone, reworked compositions from all members transversing their past 34 years, in an absolutely impressive and diverse album.

When discussing the possibility of recording J.S. Bach’s “Die Kunst der Fuge” (The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080) with those in and outside the classical music world, the question of playing this great masterwork on saxophones invariably arises early in the conversation! After all, the saxophone was not even invented until nearly 100 years after Bach’s death. However, there are two interesting points which should allay any concerns as to the appropriateness of the music of Bach to the saxophone. First, Bach, who was known to be a man of precision regarding instrumentation and other musical issues, did not indicate any instrumentation for “The Art of Fugue.”

The product of several concurrent decades of development and devotion, the combined musicality on Planetary, is something to be cherished. Those parts that are clearly being read, like Parallel Construction #2 are read flawlessly…

Braxton had long been fond of working with improvising wind ensembles. In fact, the earliest incarnation of what would become the World Saxophone Quartet appeared on his landmark Arista album, New York, Fall, 1974. So his collaboration with the ROVA quartet, perhaps the most important practitioners of the form after the WSQ, came as no surprise…