When Wind Comes to Sparse Bamboo

Released on Capstone Records, 2003

When the wind comes to sparse bamboo, the bamboo doesn't keep the sound after the wind has passed. When geese cross a cold pond, the pond doesn't retain their reflection after the geese have gone. Similarly, the minds of enlightened people become manifest when events occur and then become empty when the events are over. Hong Yingming (Huanchu Daoren), "A Wayfayer Back to Beginnings"

The purpose of this recording is to present standard and contemporary works on the saxophone in new and varied settings. The treatment of the Bach Partita, the Britten Metamorphoses the Debussy Syrinx (here played on alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, respectively) has been kept quite traditional, with no electronic manipulation. Since I am already presenting these pieces on instruments not intended by their composers, the presentation, I believe, is varied enough. The exception to this is the Gregorian Chant Gaudeamus omnes. The inspiration for including this work came from my engineer and co-producer, Daniel Cantor of Notable Productions. His suggestion of a piece on baritone saxophone reminiscent of Tibetan Buddhist chanting made me think of this gorgeous Mediaeval melody, here now presented with over dubbed tracks, spread in a stereo field to imitate a male chorus in three settings: in unison/octave, in organum, and with staggered melody to create a canon. The space concepts of the Persichetti Parable and the Martino Piccolo Studio were of great importance to me. The Persichetti utilizes a space with a longer drag time with more spread to the harmonics, while in the Martino I wanted a space that was akin to a great European cathedral to fill. For me, this work is in the vein of German Romanticism-but in miniature. The two most manipulated works are the Tower Wings and Rands Memo 6. Due to the wonderful interplay of perpetual motion and serenity of the Tower, I was inspired to add hand modulated delay with variations in feedback and distortion. This, I believe, creates a beautiful canonic canvas. To the Rands was added an actively panned doppler effect which was programmed to accentuate random moments to create varied spaces and directions for the music to permeate, thus creating a polydimentional landscape. Sean Heim’s When Wind Comes to Sparse Bamboo is the perfect juxtaposition between Eastern philosophical artistic concepts and the Western saxophone. To achieve the desired aesthetic, Heim utilizes varied vibrato widths and speeds, as well as quarter tones.

Recorded and mixed by Daniel Cantor at Notable Productions in Watertown, MA. Digitaly recorded using Neumann and Earthworks mics using Millennia and Neve mic pre-amps and Apogee 24 bit A-D converters. The microphones were set up in a stereo fashion to capture the saxophone’s natural harmonic diffraction. It is easy to perceive different harmonic overtones coming out of the instrument in different directions. www.notable.com

Mastered by Jonathan Wyner at MWorks in Cambridge, MA www.m-works.com

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Releases for 2004

All in Your Mind The Music of John Mallia and Julia Werntz- Alto Saxophone in John Mallia's Plexus with the Auros Group for New Music; Capstone Records

Crimean Dance Party The Black Sea Salsa Band- Tenor and Baritone Saxes

From a Far-off World

Released on Capstone Records, 2006

The oppressive closeness of the evening was broken by a sudden gust of wind, and the still surface of the Suista rippled and curled like the hair of a nymph, and from the woods wrapt in the evening gloom there came forth a simultaneous murmur, as though they were awakening from a black dream. Call it reality or dream, the momentary glimpse of that invisible mirage reflected from a far-off world, 250 years old, vanished in a flash. The mystic forms that brushed past me with their quick unbodied steps, and loud, voiceless laughter, and threw themselves into the river, did not go back wringing their dripping robes as they went. Like fragrance wafted away by the wind they were dispersed by a single breath of the spring.

From The Hungry Stones, by Rabindranath Tagore

The CD opens and concludes with electroacoustic works by Shaun Naidoo. The opening work, Waking in the Dirt, moves from tightly focused improvisation during the first half (Waking in the Dirt) to strictly notated music-with free interjections-during the second half (Turning in the Soil). The composer writes, “ Both titles were inspired by photographs of bodies exhumed from mass graves around Srebenica and Tuzsla, Bosnia. Most of the tape sounds are based on the same bass clarinet sample and provide, among other things, textural and harmonic reinforcement for the soloist”. The closing work, Blood on the Pattern, was written for me in the first half of 2004 and premiered at Jordan Hall, Boston, in 2005. The composer writes, “The electronic part uses manipulated saxophone sounds and the occasional vocal effect, while the performer’s part ranges from precise notation to focused improvisation and always utilizes Demetrius’s formidable, flexible musicianship. Blood on the Pattern is presented in five movements: Nothing from the Sun, Hidden Warning, The Comfort of Women, Killer Toys, and Blood on the Pattern”. Jane Brockman’s electroacoustic work Tagore Songs was originally written for clarinet in 1997, and adapted by the composer for me on soprano saxophone in 2004. I premiered this version in 2005 at Jordan Hall, Boston. The piece is influenced by Indian music; not meant as an imitation, but as a source of alternate resources. Jane Brockman writes, “In India, a young performer learns his instrument by studying with a singer, so the music will always have a vocal foundation. I’ve tried to emulate this, as well as the improvisatory spirit of the music, although the piece is fully notated. The movement titles are fragments from the writings of Bengali poet, philosopher, mystic, painter, and musician, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), whose work, revisited recently, holds even more power for me than it did twenty years ago”. Sean Heim's Blood Memory, for bass clarinet and electric sruti box, is dedicated to the courage and strength of Truganini, one of the last Tasmanian aboriginals. The composer writes, "There is a belief amongst many indigenous peoples that the history, customs, and spirituality of their culture are carried from generation to generation not only through learning, but also in their very blood. When the last of the culture dies, this 'blood memory' dies with them". My own Interludes were initially conceived as bridges, influenced by and connecting the larger works around them. The first, Interlude 1 (Intension), is a work based on the classical Rondo form, yet uses contrasts in sonority through extended techniques, rather than melody, to define this form. The second, Interlude 2 (Reflection), utilizes the harmonic spectrum of the saxophone and is based on the opening phrase of the Thanksgiving Hymn We Gather Together.

Recorded by Dan Cantor (MA) and Scott Fraser (CA); Mastered by Scott Fraser

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Also released in 2006

Lyz Coolidge, Color Me In (flute and alto flute)

Evan Ziporyn, Frog's Eye; tenor sax in Drill with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Cantaloupe Music