X,as

The PRISM Quartet’s ambitious program of commissioning and championing new works for saxophone has produced some wonderful, unexpected connections between pieces and composers. The opening work on this album, Emma O’Halloran’s “Night Music,” and the closing piece, “Cha” by Julia Wolfe, come from composers of different generations and different countries. But both, in their own ways, were inspired by the rhythms of Latin music. O’Halloran’s piece and Kristin Kuster’s “Red Pine” are both examples of tone painting; Wolfe’s “Cha” and Anna Weesner’s “Vamp” both have family stories behind them. And Steven Mackey’s piece, which gives this collection its title, connects the entire project with music that, in the composer's words, are "about the sound of 'stuff' - flesh, wood and metal, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral."

Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Timothy McAllister, whose discography features groundbreaking collaborations with many of the world's leading musicians and orchestras, releases his first solo album on XAS Records with acclaimed pianist Liz Ames. Marking 25 years since his debut solo recording, this compendium draws together cherished masterpieces in the repertoire alongside new discoveries to usher in the instrument’s future.

In its first 35 years on the scene, the PRISM Quartet has proven that the saxophone quartet is one of the most versatile chamber music ensembles, capable of expressing music created in an extraordinary range of styles—from works that exploit a level of homogenous blending perhaps only otherwise attainable by a string quartet to wild..