Tag: Bari Sax

This is the biggest news I’ve been able to write about I think since launching this site 15 years ago.

Some time last year Gary Smulyan called me to propose a crazy idea to promote the baritone saxophone. Though we have planned and scrapped those plans a few times we are finally at the point where we can announce a new organization devoted to the baritone saxophone. Low Blow Music was formed by Gary Smulyan in conjunction with the council of baritonists – Frank Basile, Claire Daly, Andrew Hadro (myself), Brian Landrus and Jason Marshall – with the purpose of promoting the baritone saxophone.

We’re hoping to make this a world-wide phenomenon, and to kick things off we are celebrating Pepper Adams’ birthday on October 8th, 2022 with a BARITONE MARATHON. 12 hours of baritone and a jam session to boot. In addition to performances from groups led by Gary as well as each of the council of baritonists, we have additional performances from Lauren Sevian, Dave Schumacher, Roger Rosenberg and Carl Maraghi! The day will start at 12pm with Gary Smulyan and end at 12:30pm with an open Jam Session! Click here to see the full line up and schedule.

But perhaps the even more exciting news is that we have launched LowBlowMusic.com – this is a site that offers exclusive baritone content for a very affordable yearly membership of $25. Membership will get you all of the following:

-Access to the live stream of the October 8th event!
-Council of baritonists videos – conversation and mini lessons from Gary Smulyan, Claire Daly, Andrew Hadro, Jason Marshall, and Brian Landrus!
-Rare photos from Gary Smulyan’s career and travels
-Free download of the album “Marcescence” from Andrew Hadro
-Custom altissimo fingering chart from Andrew Hadro
-Rare photos from Claire Daly’s career and travels!
-Free download of the album “Mirage” from Brian Landrus
-Access to unreleased live Frank Basile performance in France
And more to come soon.

You can also support this organization by joining as a Gold Member or becoming a Sponsor of one of the live sets!

I hope to see you at the Ornithology Jazz Club in person, and look forward to sharing all of the forthcoming baritone goodness with you.

Andrew Hadro

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

Continuing with the recent theme of Pepper Adams (appropriate since his birthday was recently) there are two new transcriptions in the repository thanks to Noah Pettibon! More Pepper Adams news coming soon too.

The first is on the classic Monk blues “Straight, No Chaser” from a live TV broadcast in Sweden, and the second is from the great album “Jazzmen Detroit”. Enjoy them both below!

Thanks to Martin Schaefer, the 25th Pepper Adams transcription has been posted to the transcriptions page. This time on the song “Unforgettable” from the album Pepper Adams Quintet. 

Head on over to get a copy for yourself. Or have a listen below.

Thank you to Tom Sabin for sending in a Gary Smulyan transcription on the standard “You Go To My Head”. This is from The Lure of Beauty – which is actually Gary’s first album as a leader, released 30 years ago in 1991. Its a lovely album, and a very nice solo.

Hear it below, and head to the transcriptions page to download a copy for your self!

Thanks to Martin Schaefer for sending in not one, but two Ronnie Cuber solo transcriptions! They are both classic Cuber solos. The first is “I’ll Remember April” from the album Love For Sale that Ronnie did with the Metropole Orchestra. The second is “Star Eyes” from his album Cuber LIbre. Both albums were a big part of my early listening and feature some peak cuber.

So head on over to the Transcription Repository and download copies for yourself!