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David S. Ware: Saturnian (Solo Saxophones Volume One)
ByHe expands his instrumental arsenal here to take in the saxello and the stritch, as well as his customary tenor sax, and the album's three pieces pan out in that order. In Ware's hands, the stritch projects like a cross between a soprano sax and an oboe, but it's also clear that he's one of those infrequent players who intrinsically grasps any given reed instrument's characteristics and plays accordingly. "Methone" may be alive with Ware's customary kinetic energy, but there's an uncharacteristic measure of reflection as well. For all the strings of scarcely inflected notes that have always been a part of his vocabulary it's also clear that the moment is something to which Ware is reconciled, leavening the need to blow his brains out.
By comparison, "Pallene" is more intriguing, not least because Ware's approach to the saxelloan instrument long viewed as the late Elton Dean's exclusive preserveresults in a sound similar to Anthony Braxton's alto sax, albeit with all the differences in their respective approaches still in place. Given the nature of both men's artistry it could hardly be any other way, and given the blend of momentumand accommodation of the silence that marks this pieceit's to be hoped that Ware picks up this horn the next time he records.
Finally, seasoned Ware devotees will be pleased to know that his extraordinary tenor sax tone is still in place on "Anthe," where an amalgam of Joe Henderson and Pharoah Sanders superficially springs to mind. Such points of reference have no lasting significance, however; Ware is at his most agitated on his customary horn, although hereexposed as he is in a way unlike any other settinghe reaches into the lower depths of the tenor's range, drawing out that measure of lyricism which seems to be an increasingly significant aspect of his art.
Track Listing
Methone; Pallene; Anthe.
Personnel
David S. Ware
saxophone, tenorDavid S. Ware: saxello, stritch, tenor sax.
Album information
Title: Saturnian (Solo Saxophones Volume One) | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: AUM Fidelity
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1963 Monterey Jazz Festival