Subway Soprano: Leviticus Gorey

Here's a clip of my favorite subway musician, saxophonist Leviticus Gorey.

I've had the pleasure of briefly hearing him on several occasions when I was, unfortunately, hurrying to catch a train. Each time I remember thinking to myself, "Man, this cat is killing. I really wish I had more time to sit down and really check him out." It would have been ideal if he was actually performing on the subway car, giving me and all the other passengers a private concert from 14th Street to Jay Street-Borough Hall.

Leviticus has a wonderful sound and a great time feel. He even has a cool jazz-name! It makes me wonder why you don't hear more about him performing above ground. I guess everyone has their own path they're traveling.

I must say, I really respect when someone does choose to perform for therapeutic and artistic purposes rather than to make money and to further their career.

In any case, the next time I come across him playing on the subway platform, even if I'm running late, I'm going sit down and check him out, even if it's just for one tune.

Joe Giadullo (Solo Soprano)

Here's a cool clip of soprano man Joe Giadullo.

Joe is another straighthornist who primarily works in the medium of noise and microtonal based improvisations. I first discovered Joe a few years back after reading a review of his CD, No Work Today: Nine for Steve Lacy on which he credits Steve Lacy for the inspiration for the music. I might also add that it features some very inventive solo soprano work, too.

A little side note: Joe generously sent me a CD of his called Weather, recorded live in Poland (I think, but don't quote me on that), on which he performed a solo saxophone rendition of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme." It's very creative. It gave me a lot of cool ideas.


This clip shows the Evan Parker influence in Joe's playing: circular breathing, while creating a ping pong effect with the various multiphonics. It's an excerpt from a piece called "Dragon Land Bakery," by Sax, Soup, Poetry and Voice, The group also features Nicole Peyrafitte on vocals and Pierre Joris on poetry. It was recorded live on November 10, 2007 at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, NY.

I'm looking forward to posting more of Joe's solo work in the future!

The Evan Parker Quartet

Here's a cool clip of Evan Parker in a quartet setting at the 2009 Freedom of the City Festival of new and improvised music at Conway Hall in London, England. Here, Evan is in the company of Peter Evans on trumpet, John Russell on guitar, and John Edwards on bass.

Besides from the interesting sounds and textures that the band is playing, I like most that I can see Evan's fingers, which gives me a better understanding of how he's able to do what he does.

To play the sounds that he gets in an intricate combination of simple- and cross-fingerings along with oral cavity manipulation (speeding up and slowing down the air flow as it enters the mouth through the mouthpiece by changing the position of the tongue).

Much of Evan's sonic vocabulary seems to be oral cavity oriented. Here's is where the book Top-Tones for the Saxophone: Four-Octave Range by
Sigurd M. Rascher comes in handy--especially when you want to get beyond the original scope of the instrument.

Well, that's my spiel for the day. Enjoy!

Lol Coxhill (solo soprano)

Here's one of my favorite solo soprano performances--Lol Coxhill performing at the Battersea Arts Centre in London. Even though they primarily program cutting-edge theater, occasionally they throw in some cutting-edge music, too.

I've always liked Lol's patience when playing solo. Saxophonists tend to go down the "bizerk" and "noisy" routes too quickly when performing in this format. When used too often, even things that are typically viewed as cutting-edge can sound like cliches.

Whenever I play a solo concert, leaving space is probably the most challenging thing for me to do. And it's usually the most effective, too.

In this clip, Lol reminds me of a long distance runner. Running, not to win the race, but just to run. Totally in the moment.

John Butcher (solo soprano)

Here's something from John Butcher at the 2009 Bohman Brothers Festival in London.

The Bohman Brothers festival is six consecutive nights of improvised music curated by music experimentalist Adam Bohman, and features prominent musicians from the UK improvised music scene such as Evan Parker and Lol Coxhill.

John has really great control of multiphonics, as you can hear in this clip. He integrates them well which his monophonic language--if you will.

I like the fact that when he circular breathes he doesn’t fall into an Evan Parker thing—which is not a easy thing to do. He really pulls out all of the sonic stops on this one--multiphonics, circular breathing, bird sounds, flutter tonguing, the whole nine yards. Sometimes I guess you have to get beyond conventionality to discover yourself.

I’ve always envied guys who can just go for it. I don’t always have the courage. One day I hope to develop enough trust in myself to get from underneath the skirt of Mother Structure.

I’m looking forward to hearing more of his solo stuff.

Roscoe Mitchell (Solo Soprano Saxophone)

Here's some very challenging music to listen to!

In this clip, saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell is playing a solo soprano saxophone set at the Nickelsdorf Konfrontationen Festival. This festival features free jazz and improvised music in a small village in the Austrian province of Burgenland close to the border with Hungary.

Roscoe is combining two extended techniques--circular breathing and multiphonics. It can be difficult to circular breath on one multiphonic like this. This particular one is actually good, because it's consistent.

At times, it sounds almost industrial--similar to a jackhammer. I used to practice circular breathing on this very multiphonic. I could never figure out what to do with it musically, so I put it down. Now that I hear Roscoe exploring it, I might investigate it again.

It's a good thing a bought my sound-proofed Whisper Room!

Keith Jarrett Plays the Soprano Saxophone

Keith Jarrett

I must confess, I always enjoy the looks on peoples' faces whenever I mention that Keith Jarrett is one of my favorite soprano players. Without fail, the response is always, "Keith Jarrett, the piano player?"

 But wouldn't it be funny, though, if there was a guy out there named Keith Jarrett who only played the soprano?

On this musical excerpt, you can certainly hear the Jan Garbarek influence as well as Dewey Redman and Ornette Coleman. He sounds almost like a gruff, Jan Gabarek. You probably won't hear a more organic sound on the instrument. To me, Keith gets a pure soprano sound. He definitely has a sound centered approach.

Junior High Stage Band

Being a piano player, he has an advantage in that he can play the soprano from a non-doubler's perspective. He probably didn't start off playing alto and tenor in the junior high stage band (at least I don't think so), therefore, he can hear the soprano as a soprano and not an extension of a much larger saxophone.

Listening to Keith, I learned that you can get a meatier sound in the high register, rich with overtones, if you don't use the octave key. I use this technique whenever I'm playing something with a Middle-Eastern vibe.

Dewey Redman

Quick anecdote: I remember one day I was taking the Amtrak train with Dewey Redman, going from New York to Boston to play a gig, and I asked him his opinion of Keith's soprano playing. I thought for sure he was going to share my sentiment about Keith's unique and original approach to the instrument. But I was almost crushed when he said, "Man, every time he pulled out that thing, I would cringe!" He was Dewey Redman, so of course I didn't debate it with him.

But then I thought, maybe it's a soprano thing...

This track is titled Eyes of the Heart, from Keith's 1979 release on ECM records of the same name. It also features Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian.