Category: News

The baritone saxophone is not nearly as prevalent as the alto or tenor, so it is inherently somewhat niche. Josh Sinton is a long time practitioner of the baritone and is exploring the edges of what the already somewhat undiscovered baritone saxophone can do. He has two new recordings out and they are worth listening to.

“b.” is a solo baritone saxophone recording. Recording an instrument acoustically while playing solo is incredibly daunting and ambitious. Adding digital effect, pedals, loops etc can really assist the endeavor. But Josh has spent a lot of time developing a repertoire of sounds and approaches to the saxophone such that he can now present an entire album’s length of music and sound with just him and a saxophone in a room. When listening to a solo instrumental recording I like to try to keep in the foreground the physical reality of the music. This is a large brass tube with holes in it, and the variety of sounds that can be produced with it is astonishing and worth listening to.

The other recording, “Adumbrations” is a trio recording with Josh, Jed Wilson, and Tony Falco. While still not striking down the middle of main-stream jazz this recording might be more familiar sounding to some listeners. The interaction between the musicians is really what’s special here. I especially enjoyed hearing Josh play some excellent flute.

I encourage you to expand your palate for baritone and go to Josh’s band camp page and have a listen. You make like it, love it, or just be interested to know what’s possible.

An interesting interview with baritone saxophonist Dana Colley. If you don’t know Morphine and you’re a fan of the baritone saxophone, especially in non straight-ahead jazz settings, this is a must listen band.

Dana and drummer Jerome Deupree made up 2/3 of the band Morphine and took part in a podcast interview recently. Its worth listening to.

https://www.theirverybest.com/episodes/014-morphine-pt-2

NPR has produced an excellent piece on the father of the jazz baritone saxophone, Harry Carney.

Danny Harrington and Lauren Sevian both contributed some meaningful dialogue, and overall the piece is well worth a listen. Check it out below!

And while we’re on the topic of Harry Carney, check out this interview with him from Crescendo magazine in 1966!

For Pepper Adams fans (which is most baritone saxophonists I think) there is great news. A new album is being released after being uncovered by some extensive archive digging. Its being released on the Real to Reel label headed up by Cory Weeds. The title is “Pepper Adams with the Tommy Banks Trio: Live at the Room at the Top”

This is a recording from an engagement Pepper did with the Tommy Banks trio. The new recording is in a 2 disc format with an extensive booklet. The tune lengths seem to indicate plenty of stretching out in the blowing, which makes sense on a live recording not originally intended for release. 

From the official description:

The 100-minute performance was recorded on September 25th, 1972 at the University of Alberta.

This is the first release from a rich tape archive from Marc Vasey in Edmonton, Alberta. The set is transferred from the original analogue tapes. The deluxe edition double CD Includes an extensive 15 page booklet with rare photos; essays by Gary Carner, producer Cory Weeds; plus interviews with baritone saxophonists Frank Basile and Gary Smulyan as well as original music producer Marc Vasey.

Click here to pre-order ! (releases May 6th, 2022)

The musicians featured in the roundtable discussion were: David Amram, Kenny Berger, Bob Blumenthal, Roger Rosenberg, Dale Fielder, Danny Harrington, Steve Wood, James Hughes, Ken Kellett, Jim Hartog, Rik van den Bergh, Claire Daly, Kevin Goss, Brian Landrus, Cameron Wallis, and Aaron Lington.

As the curator of JazzBariSax.com I often have the pleasure or sharing music by all of the great baritonists out there. Today, Friday December 24th I am releasing a single and would like to share a bit of my own music with the world. Perhaps you are curious as to what the person who runs this site chooses to pursue artistically.

Here’s a bit about the singe. Follow this link to find it on the streaming platform of your choice or YouTube.

‘Regarding the Moon’ is a new composition by Greek bassist Petros Klampanis, commissioned and performed by Andrew Hadro, baritone saxophonist in New York City. Hadro began working on the concept in the early days of the pandemic as a way to give work to composers during the global  performance outage. It is written for double string quartet (four violin, two viola, two cello), bass, piano, drums and features the baritone saxophone. It utilizes the extreme upper register of the baritone saxophone, a range and timbre rarely used by composers.

 

The title is both a reference to the extreme upper reaches of saxophone range and  a nod to composer Claude Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’. The piece is so technically difficult that Hadro spent months re-learning the altissimo range of the baritone saxophone, while the recording took nearly 18 months to complete on two continents with sessions months apart.  

 

According to Petros, ‘Andrew asked me to write a tune that features the high register of the baritone, a sound which I find especially beautiful and surely not what someone expects to hear from a bari. I tried to integrate the roles of the different ensembles, within the whole group (strings on the one hand and a jazz quartet on the other) and create a musical story that allows the leading instrument to shine but not overshadow the colors of the group.’

 

This piece is the first in a series of compositions commissioned to feature the baritone saxophone with strings as part of Andrew Hadro’s ongoing project, ‘For Us, The Living’. Subsequent works will debut in 2022.

 

‘Regarding the Moon’ will be released on the  ΠΚ Music label on December 24th, 2021. Available wherever music is sold or streamed. To learn more please visit https://andrewhadro.com and https://www.petrosklampanis.com

Curator, Andrew Hadro with some of the baritone gift options.

There are a lot of terrible or tacky saxophone things for sale on the internet. So I’ve done some digging and tried to save some time for people looking to get baritone related gifts for friends, family, or other baritone enthusiasts. I’ve already purchased a number of these items as you can see. Since the holidays are approaching I thought it might be a good idea to share the list with everyone. Though we shouldn’t need a holiday to shower the baritonists in our lives with gifts.

The items range from more generic posters/prints/t-shirts to very niche and well done artistic renderings of famous baritone minded musicians. 

So if you’re looking to pick up something (less costly than a new horn) for that special baritone saxophonist in your life, head over to the Gift Ideas Page.

If you’re looking for more practical maybe head over to the Accessories page for a nice gift.