Get ten saxophones together and it sounds like an accordion.
Luckily, that was a good sound for many of the ragtime and jazz selections played by the UB Saxophone Ensemble Sunday afternoon in Lippes Concert Hall. Under the direction of Harry Fackelman, a full choir of soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones performed a variety of different works including orchestral adaptations and original student compositions.
The opening of the concert was a somber arrangement of the hymn "Albany." While the sound of the saxophone choir was too harsh and reedy to sound like a pipe organ, the piece was pleasant. It had a simple melody and an arrangement done by Don Copley, the bass saxophonist in the group.
It is difficult to find arrangements and absolutely impossible to find classical pieces that are originally written for saxophone choir. So it is understandable that the classical selections were the low point of the concert. Just as the first selection failed to live up to its original organ version, the second was an inferior rendering of a piano piece.
"Sarabande" was written by French composer Claude Debussy as part of his "Suite for the Piano." The saxophonists made an admirable attempt at conveying the beautiful lyricism and tone color, but as Fackelman mentioned, Debussy often chose instrumentation for his pieces specifically based on tone color.
And saxophones were not what Debussy had in mind.
The adaptation of "Tarantella," by one of the group's members, was next. It had been written by Giacchino Rossini for piano, orchestrated by Ottorino Respighi, and finally adapted for saxophone choir by Lacey Golaszewski, a UB student who is also a member of the ensemble. This piece actually worked with the sound of the group. As a folk dance, the upbeat tempos and accordion-like sound enhanced rather than detracted from the piece.
The next selection, "Untitled," was quite impressive. It was an original composition by Rory McCormack, a UB student and alto saxophonist in the group. It had a big-band style that was great with the saxophone sound and a quirky, humorous ending. For a student composition, it was very good.
After "Untitled," the concert continued with smaller saxophone groups. Two rags by Scott Joplin played by an alto sax duet failed to impress. The tone and articulation were too stuffy and classical, and the wonderful acoustics of the hall actually worked against the piece, making the ragtime seem too serious. That style of music needs to be played outdoors, with some out-of-tune trombones, not with perfect technique in a concert hall.
Joplin was followed by a technically demanding solo entitled "Piece Breve," played by Lacey Golaszewski. Then there were two Sketches by Lennie Niehaus, played by an alto sax trio and a baritone sax trio. These were very short and somewhat jazzy. In the smaller groups, intonation and ensemble was actually more of a problem, or at least more noticeable than it was in the full choir.
The last small ensemble was a baritone sax quartet version of "Summertime," a well-known piece from the Gershwin opera "Porgy and Bess." While having four bari saxes playing simultaneously may seem like a good idea, the novelty far outweighed the resulting performance. The tone was so heavy and the expression so lifeless that this simple jazz piece just sank under the weight.
The full choir of ten saxophonists returned to play the longest piece on the program, an arrangement of the overture to "Orpheus and the Underworld," by French composer Jacques Offenbach. While the familiar "Can-Can" theme at the end was played with gusto, it was the solo sections that set this piece apart. Steve Hunter on alto sax and Tom Pollard on tenor sax played the solos with exceptional classical tone and phrasing.
They wrapped up the concert was a selection by Horace Silver, apparently a favorite of director Fackelman. The ensemble was back in their element for this piece, a jazz selection with two improvised solo sections forming the backbone of the piece. The ending, a short, dissonant chord, was somewhat abrupt, but overall it was a good choice of a final selection for the UB Saxophone Ensemble.
The concert had great variety, and though most of the arrangements were better with the original instrumentation, the jazz pieces and especially Rory McCormack's original composition were well suited for the group. Overall, an enjoyable hour of impressive work by one of the student ensembles here at UB.
