12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 280
Date: 10/07/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: The rec room of my childhood home
Notes:
Between rehearsals and teaching this morning I stopped off at my families house. With just a half hour or so before I need to leave I suddenly found myself in a calm and quiet space by myself. I had just finished up a rehearsal for Bad Luck, my collaborative duo project with drummer Chris Icasiano. Though we try and keep a light spirit, our rehearsals are marathon sessions filled with music that challenges us mentally and physically. I carried this energy into my 12 Moons improvisation today, bringing this residual heightened state of energy into what would normally have been a calmer mood at my families empty house.
This improvisation was based off of an improvisatory section in a new Bad Luck composition. I worked with the theme of clustered activity, both in the played material and space itself. I wanted the microcosmic space between pitches to resonate as much as the short pitch punctuations themselves. This improvisation begins with a heightened state of energy and activity that continues to builds on itself. I used single and double tonguing, and despite the gritty textures I worked to stay particularly aware of the range and timbres I used while playing. The bulk of the pitched material uses the palm keys which I would overblow to create bright crackles of sound.
-Neil
The image “Crawl Space” accompanying today’s post by Jane Wilson and Louise Wilson (1995).