Musical reinvention
can be a dangerous thing. When properly
executed, it takes us on a journey through
a fun and enlightening musical journey,
with the original composers brilliance
spotlighted in unsuspecting ways. When
ill executed, one is left wondering
only what the arranger was thinking
when he came to this ill-conceived notion.
As the saxophone was invented in 1842,
as documented by Hector Berlioz, most
of these composers were dead before
the featured instrument on this recording
was conceived. This is therefore the
very essence of musical reinvention:
taking the great works of the world’s
greatest baroque and romantic composers
and translating them to an instrument
ensemble that is truly emblematic of
the modern era. The result is a mixed
bag: some musical gems and other works
that would have been best left on the
shelf.
The ensemble is at
its peak when performing the original
work "Prelude" and Chick Corea’s
"La Fiesta", both of which
are well suited to the timbre and the
idiosyncrasies of the saxophone. Also
the fifth selection on the CD, "Jazzentials",
is surprisingly tender and moving piece
based on the work of Bach. It is among
the best of the musical reinventions
attempted by Quintessence.
However, on their Handel
Hallelujah Chorus and Beethoven "Coriolan",
intonation issues abound, and the arranging
is somewhat suspect. While the musicians
themselves are certainly gifted and
talented players, unison parts for soprano,
alto, tenor and baritone saxophones
focus undue attention on the shortcomings
of saxophone tuning in general, and
makes those limitations appear as a
reflection on the players. There is
certainly a reason that you will hear
musicians say that tuning is "close
enough for jazz". Due to the complex
colorations of jazz chords this is often
a correct statement. The expectations
of a listener accustomed to the traditional
works from which these pieces are derived
are higher; unfortunately they are simply
not met. As this recording was done
live, a certain amount of understanding
must be given to intonation problems
where they occur, especially when the
lead player is making instrument changes,
as Uli Letterman does several times.
However the issue is too prevalent to
overlook completely.
While I applaud the
attempt at bringing together a new look
at these well known works, and expanding
the repertoire for saxophone quintet,
this is not a disc that can be considered
essential to any recording save those
for whom both classical music and saxophone
ensembles are of the utmost interest.
Quintessence has put out better work
in the past (their recording "To
the Point" being a personal favorite).
These selections are better suited to
more traditional instrumentations. My
suggestion is to congratulate Quintessence
on ten years of good music and to look
forward to their next release.
Patrick Gary