Saxophone Solo

To date, Kalevi Aho has composed sixteen symphonies and twenty-eight concertos, several operas and a large number of chamber works – a rate of production which is all the more impressive considering the complexity and originality displayed by each new work. On this latest in a long series of BIS releases with Aho’s music, two of his most recent works are performed by the musicians of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra. The orchestra and its artistic director John Storgårds have collaborated with the composer on several projects, and the Concerto for Soprano Saxophone is a commission from the orchestra, at the suggestion of the Swedish saxophonist Anders Paulsson. A specialist on the soprano saxophone, Paulsson also demonstrated the instrument’s capabilities to Aho as part of his preparations.

This project, interpretations of ten songs written by , would not seem to have much potential from a jazz standpoint. But by reharmonizing the tunes and contributing inventive charts for a notable group of jazz players, arranger Bob Belden put together a very memorable set, turning pop material into creative jazz. Belden (who takes a tenor solo on "Children's Crusade") allocated solo space to such players as guitarists John Scofield, John Hart and Fareed Haque, pianists Billy Childs, Benny Green, Joey Calderazzo, Marc Copland and Kevin Hays, trumpeter Tim Hagans, tenors Rick Margitza and Kirk Whalum and altoist Bobby Watson. In addition, there is a vocal apiece by Dianne Reeves ("Wrapped Around Your Finger"), Phil Perry ("Sister Moon"), Mark Ledford ("Every Breath You Take") and Jimi Tunnell ("I Burn for You"), but the emphasis is on jazz improvizing.

Alois Hába was a Czech composer, musical theorist, and teacher. He is primarily known for his microtonal compositions, especially using the quarter tone scale, though he used others such as sixth-tones and twelfth-tones. He was supported by Josef Suk and with his help founded a microtonal department of teaching and research at the Prague Conservatory in 1924. In 1923–48 he worked first as an instructor, later (since 1936) as professor at the Prague Conservatory. During World War II, Hába was endangered by Nazis, because he tried to help his Jewish pupils. After the war he lived in peace in the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia. He died in Prague in 1973.

The legendary Four Brothers reed section of Woody Herman's famous "Second Herd" big band of 1947, (Herbie Steward, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz and Serge Chaloff) is reimagined and reinvigorated by jazz icons Harry Allen, Eric Alexander, Grant Stewart and Gary Smulyan on the exciting, swinging and audacious recording of The Candy Men by Harry Allen's All Star New York Saxophone Band. Offering a sensational set of twelve bop-infused tunes containing some hard-driving, mid-tempo swing pieces to breathy and bossa-styled ballads, one sampling of this disc is just not enough. The material and the musicianship is so outstanding, that the late, great bandleader Woody Herman himself, would be proud of the way this group of jazz icons, has so elegantly represented the original Brothers section.

Admirers of Luciano Berio's Sequenzas have long wished for an affordable, high-quality collection of these masterpieces for solo instruments, considered by some to be the core works in the composer's oeuvre. Deutsche Grammophon released Ensemble InterContemporain's fabulous set in 1994, but its relatively high price and incompleteness make it a second choice when compared with the 2006 set on Naxos, which is both reasonably priced and complete, now that Sequenza XIV for cello appears on CD for the first time. Of course, bargaining over cost and completeness is one thing, but artistic quality is another important consideration: how does the Naxos edition fare in its performances and sound quality? While Ensemble InterContemporain's terrific compilation practically guarantees accuracy and authenticity – many of Berio's original musicians were involved in the project – the performances on this triple-disc set are quite comparable and wholly convincing in virtuosic skills, lustrous timbres, and splendid recording quality; only an adept student of these pieces could note any discrepancies, and those would be minor.