Vinny Golia: A Gift for the Unusual: Music for Contrabass Saxophone

Right from the start, the opener finds the tubax often sounding like a contrabass clarinet, yet with a metallic and more powerful sound. Lasting slightly over one minute, this piece serves more as an introduction and to set the tone for the rest of the music. "Repetition" is a trio of tubax, trombone, and contrabass. This piece finds the three instruments weaving dark, melodic lines around each other. At times, the tubax and arco contrabass are difficult to distinguish from each other, their tonalities melding together.

"Eye My" is a swinging duo with Wayne Peet. The tubax really benefits from the piano's contrast in timbre and attack. Golia tends to play a more legato, linear style here, and the sharp, staccato of the piano is the perfect foil. Originally written for bass sax, "The Mozart of Vice" is a tubax/contrabass/trombone/piano outing. Bassist Bill Casale sets up an opening line over which Golia and trombonist Michael Pierre Vlatkovich weave the melody. With no fault towards the musicianship, the music just seems to plod along.

Golia has never been one to shy away from exploring different aspects of creative music, and this is no exception. His bravery in making a recording solely on tubax may be overshadowed by the limited tonality of the instrument over sixty four minutes. And his choice of instrumentation often keeps the sounds in the low registers, making repeated listenings a challenge. This CD may be more of an acquired taste than anything—the music, grounded in the bass register, rarely takes off.