12 Moons Solo Saxophone Project Day 351
Date: 12/17/2013
Instrument: Tenor saxophone
Location: Main performance hall at Chief Sealth High School. Seattle, WA
Notes:
Today will likely be my last available day to record in the Chief Sealth performance hall during the 12 Moons project. This improvisation has eluded me all year. Each week I’ve been on the lookout for it–a quiet, melodic landscape with open harmonic language. As I’ve described in past posts regarding this hall, the space is a difficult room for me to record in. The room sounds absolutely magnificent, but my own deficiencies as a player often creep up when I walk into it. It’s a large room with tall ceilings, only 5 or so years old. The stage is enormous, and from the center of it the empty seats point inward with remarkable uniformity, their vivid, blood-red fabric has yet to fade with time. An old ghost in me waited patiently for the right moment to record this improvisation, and I’m grateful it came today.
I approached this piece freely, opening myself to the wonderful quietness and crystal-clear resonance of the room. There were some melodic themes that crept up unexpectedly. The opening figure for example seemed to want to recapitulate at the end of the improvisation within my really focusing on it whatsoever. This was not intentional, but perhaps a testament to the simple melodies the room was offering me today.
-Neil
The image accompanying today’s post by Connie Imboden.