Sky Scrapings

"Sky Scrapings " featuring Thomas Walsh, Joseph Lulloff, John Sampen, Otis Murphy, Barrick Stees, Jun Okada, James Helton and the Indiana Saxophone Quartet AUR CD 3126 $16.95 (includes free shipping in the US) EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Postal Rates for out of the USA Shipping (Overseas and Canada/ Mexico) have almost tripled. We apologize, but we must charge $12 to ship CDs out of the USA. The most cost effective solution for you would be to order more than one CD because the shipping cost for 1 - 4 CDs will be exactly the same: $12USD. As before, you will be sent a separate PayPay request for the shipping cost after you order your CD(s). If you have any questions, please contact Arlette Dumont-Penn at arlette@aurec.com -- We THANK YOU very much for your understanding and for your support of AUR.

Song Title	Length	Samples
Sky Scrapings (1997)
1.  I.   Transient Fixations	(2:15)	Listen
2.  II.  Hypertoccata	(2:04)	Listen
3.  III. Colliding Cantilenas	(5:14)	Listen
4.  IV. Gathering	(4:38)	Listen
5.  V.   a little “Adieu”	(1:12)	Listen
Louder than Words (2001)
6.  Part 1	(8:58)	Listen
7.  Part 2 (8:28)	(8:28)	Listen
Killing Time (1980)
8.  Killing Time	(11:06)	Listen
EDGE: Saxophone Quartet (1984)
9.  EDGE	(20:34)	Listen

Skyscrapings: The Saxophone Music of Don Freund
Sky Scrapings (1997) (15:24)
1 I.   Transient Fixations (2:15)
2 II.  Hypertoccata (2:04)
3 III. Colliding Cantilenas (5:14)
4 IV. Gathering (4:38)
5 V.   a little “Adieu” (1:12)

Thomas Walsh, alto saxophone, Don Freund, piano

Sky Scrapings is a subversive Serenade for Alto Saxophone and Piano. Subversive, in that none of the material ends up going in the direction it appears to be pointed. Transient Fixations begins as a rondo between a nonchalant opening tune and rougher, slightly faster music, but the movement prematurely dissolves in swirls of descending dissipation. Hypertoccata is marked “electric, ‘wired’, feverish,” but its opening section is abruptly displaced by torrential unison scales jigsawed against driving zigzags. In Colliding Cantilenas tunes which suggest cocktail piano, “chaste” early Renaissance-style, and pop ballad abut one another, flanking a scurrying middle section marked “anxious, fugitivo (chased).” Gathering begins easy and buoyant, but soon turns darker and threatening, careening through rough juxtapositions to a cumulative cataclysm. In the aftermath, a morphing multiphonic leads to a little “Adieu,” short, simple, and tinged with nostalgia.

Thomas Walsh is Associate Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington and is a Yamaha Performing Artist. An active performer of jazz and classical music, he performs regularly with the Louisville Orchestra and he has appeared as a solo recitalist, in chamber groups, jazz small groups, big bands, and Broadway shows. He has presented concerts and workshops across the United States, as well as in Japan, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, and Costa Rica.

In 2005, Walsh recorded with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra David Baker’s Concerto for Jazz Alto Saxophone and Orchestra for release on Albany recordings. In 2002, Walsh released his first jazz CD, New Life, on the RIAX label, complementing his 1998 classical release on RIAX, Shaking the Pumpkin. He has also recorded with the Buselli/Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, the Dominic Spera Big Band, the Eugene Rousseau Big Band, and jazz vocalists Wanda Stafford and Janiece Jaffe.

Walsh is on the faculty of the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops (since 1991). He has also taught at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Purdue University, and Millikin University. Walsh holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Saxophone Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Indiana University where he studied with distinguished classical saxophonist Eugene Rousseau and renowned jazz educator David Baker.

Louder than Words (2001) (17:26)

6 Part 1 (8:58)
7 Part 2 (8:28)

Joseph Lulloff, alto saxophone, Barrick Stees, bassoon; Jun Okada, piano

Don Freund’s Louder than Words, the most recent work on this CD, continues the composer’s longtime sound identification with the instrumental personality of the saxophone, which began with Killing Time, an ultra-violent 1980 composition for amplified alto saxophone, amplified piano and an electronic tape with a definite attitude. That was followed by EDGE, a saxophone quartet that takes polystylistic juxtapositioning and superimpositioning to an existential extreme. EDGE was followed by a series of works combining alto saxophone with Casio synthesizer and a variety of other instruments (though mostly horn and violin) and dance or other visual images. All of these works were inspired by the playing of Memphis saxophonist Allen Rippe. In 1997, Freund composed Sky Scrapings for the legendary Eugene Rousseau, reverting to the classical instrumentation of alto saxophone and piano but still electrified by jazz-rock influences. Louder than Words, composed in the fall of 2001, was commissioned by saxophone virtuoso Joseph Lulloff; Lulloff’s playing is also the inspiration for two of Freund’s more recent works, ON AGAIN, off again (2005) for unaccompanied alto saxophone and Sunscapes (2006), a concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra.

Louder than Words, a trio for alto saxophone, bassoon and piano (it also exists in a version for alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and piano) addresses the joys and conflicts of the emerging 21st century in a “stream-of-consciousness” form. There is really one accumulating flow of time, divided into 2 “parts” for manageability.

Part One begins with a driving ritornello, followed by a section marked “restless” built around a surging fast triple-time rhythmic motive. The ritornello returns in a truncated form, followed by a quietly lyric transition to an f-minor waltz tune.

The peace that follows the closing full cadence of this section is rudely interrupted by an interpolation from Mozart’s K. 466 Piano Concerto (possibly offered to give some historical validity to the concept of continuity by intrusion — Mozart used this material in the same intrusive way). The ensuing distortion of this material becomes a return of some previous agitated material, leading to a sudden, enigmatic close to Part One.

Part Two begins with a section marked “frazzled” (sort of a cat-fight for two winds with piano commentary), eventually straightening out into a pairing of the winds in conga-flavored licks. This builds to a three-measure cataclysm which actually appears three times, each time leading to a different result. The first non-sequitur is a g-minor unison hard boogie breakout; the second is a rollicking troubadourish melody — a surprising final destination for all the accumulated momentum. The final appearance of the cataclysm introduces a cathartic return of the f-minor waltz tune, which is not quite the last thing heard — the piano closes with a short, ghostly allusion to the beginning ritornello.

Saxophonist Joseph Lulloff is one of today’s most sought-after performers and clinicians. Acclaimed internationally for his innovative style and unparalleled virtuosity, Mr. Lulloff has been described by Branford Marsalis as “a marvelous musician” whose “knowledge of music, along with his ability to embrace music normally considered outside the sphere, makes him a joy to listen to.” Mr. Lulloff performs regularly with symphony orchestras throughout the United States and as soloist in many of the most prestigious concert venues in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan.

He received the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Michigan State University. He has taught at the University of Illinois, and is currently Professor of Saxophone Performance Studies at Michigan State University. Mr. Lulloff is a member of the summer artist faculty at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, N.C., and is past president of the North American Saxophone Alliance.

Mr. Lulloff’s honors include a Pro Musicis International Music Award, the Teacher/Scholar Award and the Distinguished Faculty Award from Michigan State University. As winner of the annual Concert Artists Guild competition he presented a solo recital in New York’s Weill Recital Hall; of this performance New York Times critic Alan Hughes commented, “Mr. Lulloff’s artistry showed fine instincts for phrasing in both brilliant and pensive music.”

Mr. Lulloff regularly presents recitals and master classes at major universities and conservatories. He has performed as a member of the wind sections of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestras, among others. Mr. Lulloff recently performed the Ingolf Dahl Saxophone Concerto in a series of concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra. Dan Rosenberg wrote in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Lulloff was amazing. He traversed the instrument with seamless agility, filled out phrases for all their expressive worth and achieved dynamics from inaudible purrs to penetrating howls.” The Akron Beacon Journal noted that “Joseph Lulloff played with all the finesse of a top-notch concert violinist.”

Mr. Lulloff is active in the premiering and commissioning of new works, including those of Michael Colgrass, David Cutler, Don Freund, Perry Goldstein, John Harbison, Jere Hutchenson, David Maslanka, David Ott, Gunther Schuller, Charles Ruggiero, Scott Wyatt, and Paul Martin Zonn.

Mr. Lulloff is featured both as a soloist and ensemble member in numerous recordings on the Arabesque, RCA, Albany, AUR, Veriatza, and Channel Classics labels. Mr. Lulloff is a Yamaha Performing Artist and resides in Okemos, Michigan, with his wife Janet and son Jordan.

Barrick Stees bassoon, has been assistant principal bassoon of The Cleveland Orchestra since 2002. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music and studied with K. David Van Hoesen. He currently teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Akron and was a member of the Michigan State University faculty from 1991-2002. Former faculty appointments include the Brevard Music Center, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen Arts Camp, University of Connecticut and the Hartt School of Music. He served as principal bassoon of the Illinois Philharmonic and the Greater Lansing, Hartford, Savannah and South Bend Symphonies. He has concertized throughout Europe, South America and Asia, including a solo tour of Hong Kong and China. His international music festival appearances include the Santo Domingo Festival in the Dominican Republic with Philippe Entremont, the Festival y Escuela de Santa Fe de Bogota and the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. Mr. Stees also served as chairman of the International Double Reed Society Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox Competition. Mr. Stees plays with the Solaris Quintet.

Internationally sought after as a professional pianist, Jun Okada enjoys an active career, being involved in over one hundred performances annually as a soloist, in duo ensembles, and as a chamber music specialist. She has received critical acclaim for her expertise in the performance of string, low-brass and woodwind literature. Native of Hiroshima, Japan, she began her musical studies at Yamaha Music School, and received the Bachelors and Masters degrees from Michigan State University under the tutelage of Deborah Moriarty.

Ms. Okada is particularly noted for her command of the contemporary saxophone repertoire and has performed with numerous internationally recognized artists throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Thailand, and Belgium. As a member of Lulloff-Okada Duo with saxophonist Joseph Lulloff, she has performed at Carnegie-Weill Recital Hall, in Thailand International Saxophone Conference, as well as many other international and national venues.

8 Killing Time (1980) (11:06) for Amplified Alto Sax, Amplified Piano, and Tape. John Sampen, alto saxophone; James Helton, piano.

Killing Time was composed in 1980 for amplified alto saxophone, amplified piano and a stereo tape that is decidedly pre-digital. Listeners who didn’t live through the ‘60’s and ‘70’s may not recognize Charles Manson’s favorite tune or know that a certain symphonic composer was a turn-on for the “ultra-violent” protagonist of A Clockwork Orange.

The unexpurgated program notes read: “Killing Time celebrates the power and joy of ugliness, violence, and wanton destruction. It was inspired by a newspaper article about a Punk Rock concert which incited listeners to acts of brutality and self-mutilation.”

The performance instructions suggest that “playback and amplification levels should be very loud, though not painfully so. The pain is inside the music, and the discomfort is in the listener’s moral-aesthetic consciousness, preferably after the fact.”

As one of America’s leading concert saxophonists, John Sampen is particularly recognized as a distinguished artist in contemporary literature. He has commissioned over seventy new works, including compositions by Babbitt, Bolcom, Cage and Rands and has premiered saxophone versions of music by Lutoslawski, Stockhausen and Tower.

In 1970, Sampen was recitalist and certificate winner at the prestigious International Geneva Concours in Switzerland. He has soloed with ensembles from all over the world, including the Nurnberg Symphony Orchestra, the Osaka Municipal Winds, the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italy, the New Mexico Symphony, the Biel Swiss Symphony, the Toledo Symphony and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.

As recipient of NEA and Meet the Composer grants, John Sampen has been involved with commissions and premieres of new music by Albright, Babbitt, Martino and Subotnick. His London premiere of Subotnick’s In Two Worlds with the Electric Symphony featured him as the first classical performer to solo on Yamaha’s WX7 Wind Controller. The performance inspired an English critic to write of “the excellence, the musicianship and the total involvement of John Sampen.….tremendous passion and eloquence.”

Sampen has recorded with Belgian and Swiss National Radio and is represented on the Orion, CRI, Albany, and Capstone record labels. A clinician for the Selmer company, he has presented master classes at important universities and conservatories throughout Europe, Asia and North America. In addition to contemporary literature, Sampen regularly performs traditional saxophone repertoire in recital with pianist/composer Marilyn Shrude. He holds degrees from Northwestern University and has studied with Frederick Hemke, Donald Sinta and Larry Teal. Dr. Sampen is a Distinguished Artist Professor at Bowling Green State University and is past president of the North American Saxophone Alliance.

James Helton’s activity as recitalist and collaborator has taken him to numerous states plus Washington, DC, the Czech Republic, and Spain during the current season. He has worked with Pulitzer Prize winning composers George Crumb, William Bolcom, Lucas Foss and Joseph Schwantner in concerts broadcast over public radio and television. For New World Records, Helton collaborated with the Blair Woodwind Quintet on works by composer Michael Kurek (CD 80497-2).

9 EDGE: Saxophone Quartet (1984) (20:33) Indiana Saxophone Quartet: Otis Murphy, soprano saxophone; Thomas P. Walsh, alto saxophone; Michael Duke, tenor saxophone; Karl Hartmann, baritone saxophone.

EDGE: Saxophone Quartet was commissioned by Allen Rippe for the Memphis Saxophone Quartet. The “edge” idea is to be felt in all kinds of ways: for examples, the rough edge of torn paper, the gleaming edge of a blade, the piercing edge of a laser, the edge which separates contrapuntal voices, the perceptual edge between conflicting musical styles, the twilight between light and darkness, the thin edge between existence and nothingness. The form of the work is sectional, exploiting various kinds of edges between sections. Here is a little sectional guided tour: Schizo-intro; riveting repeating notes; clockworks; gigue-motet; four-voice style-canon stew; filigree chorale; blocks of contrasts; sixteenths city; blues; swing-tune; ghost melody.

Born in 1972, Otis Murphy joined the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2001 at the age of 28, becoming one of the youngest faculty members in the history of the IU School of Music. His primary teachers include Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Eugene Rousseau, and Kenneth Fischer. Murphy holds the Prix de Perfectionnement (by a unanimous decision of the jury) from the Conservatoire National Régional de Musique, Cergy-Pontoise, France; the Master of Music degree from Indiana University, graduating with the Performer’s Certificate, the highest honor given to a performer at this institution; and the Bachelor of Music Education degree, graduating Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Georgia. Murphy has won numerous awards and prizes that include 2nd Prize in the Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition in Belgium, 3rd Prize in the Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in France, 1st Prize in the Heida Hermanns Young Artist Competition, 2nd Prize in the Saint Louis Symphony Young Artist Competition, and a J. William Fulbright Grant that allowed saxophone study in France.

Mr. Murphy is an active saxophone soloist and clinician who is in great demand throughout the world. In addition to his frequent solo appearances throughout the United States, he has also performed and given saxophone classes in major cities in France, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Belgium, and Italy. Mr. Murphy has appeared at prestigious musical events throughout the world that include performing as a concerto soloist at the Ravenna Music Festival in Italy; appearances at the 12th and 13th World Saxophone Congresses in Montreal, Quebec, and Minneapolis, Minnesota; a guest soloist with the U.S. Navy Band at the 26th Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium in Washington, D.C.; an invited soloist at the 7th British Saxophone Congress in Wales, the Frankfurt International Classical Saxophone Festival in Germany, the Taiwan Saxophone Summer Camp, and the New England Saxophone Symposium; and he has taught at the Faenza International Saxophone Festival of Italy. Since 2005, Mr. Murphy has joined the artist/faculty of the Hamamatsu International Wind & Percussion Academy in Japan.

Mr. Murphy has enjoyed a special relationship with several concert series such as the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago and the World Children’s Fund in Japan. As an orchestral saxophonist, Mr. Murphy makes frequent appearances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and he performs actively with wind ensembles and orchestras throughout the world. He gave his debut as guest soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra during the 2004-2005 season, performing Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche: Suite for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra.

Born in Melbourne Australia, Dr. Duke completed his Bachelor of Music degree with honors at Melbourne University’s Victorian College of the Arts under the instruction of saxophonist and educator Graeme Shilton. In May of 1999 he received a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from Indiana University studying with Distinguished Professor of Saxophone, Dr. Eugene Rousseau and Associate Professor Dr. Thomas Walsh. Dr. Duke recently completed a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University with minors in both music theory and jazz studies. His teachers have included Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Arno Bornkamp and Distinguished Professor David Baker.

Throughout the United States and abroad, Duke has been engaged in an extensive performance career. In addition to performing with various chamber ensembles and bands Dr. Duke has performed with many of Australia’s premiere orchestras including the Melbourne Symphony, the Victorian State Opera, the Australian Philharmonic and Pops Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In the United States he has performed with the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra (Kentucky), the Camerata Symphony Orchestra (Indiana), the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, the Indiana University Concert Orchestra, Indiana University Chamber Orchestra and the Cedar Rapids Symphony (Iowa). In the Spring of 2002 Dr. Duke was chosen as the winner of the Indiana University Woodwind Concerto Competition where he performed Jacques Ibert’s “Concertino da camera” for alto saxophone and orchestra. Dr. Duke performed on the world stage at the, 12th World Saxophone Congress in Montreal Canada (June 2000), and at the national level at the North American Saxophone Alliance National Conference in 2002 (Denton, Texas), 2004 (Greensboro, North Carolina) and 2006 (Iowa City, Iowa).

As well as teaching an extensive private studio, Dr. Duke is an active clinician and tutor. His involvements have included appointments as a faculty member for the Indiana University Audition Preparation Workshop, and Assistant Instructor at Eugene Rousseau’s Saxophone Workshop in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, as well as judging at jazz competitions throughout the state of Iowa. In addition to being a freelance musician in the Boston area, for the past three years Dr. Duke has taught and performed with the Jim Widner Big Band at the Simpson College Jazz Camp. Dr. Duke has taught as full-time music faculty at Simpson College, Indianola Iowa (2002-2005) and is currently pursuing jazz studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

Karl Hartman graduated from the Indiana University School of Music in 1997 with a Bachelor’s in Music Performance, and in 2000 with a Master’s in Music performance. He is currently a member of the Indianapolis Saxophone Quartet. Karl also teaches a private studio of 70-80 saxophone students (grades 6-12) at the Avon School Corporation in Avon, Indiana, which is west of Indianapolis. In addition to his large private studio, he also coaches several saxophone quartets and two large saxophone ensembles, for which he arranges standard band and orchestral works. Karl is also an ajudicator for the Indiana State School Music Association solo and ensemble auditions.

Don Freund was born in Pittsburgh in 1947; he studied at Duquesne University and earned his graduate degrees at the Eastman School of Music. His composition teachers were Joseph Willcox Jenkins, Darius Milhaud, Charles Jones, Wayne Barlow, Warren Benson, and Samuel Adler. From 1972 to 1992 he was chairman of the Composition Department at Memphis State University. As founder and coordinator of Memphis State University’s Annual New Music Festival, he programmed close to a thousand new American works; he has been conductor or pianist in the performance of some two hundred new pieces, usually in collaboration with the composer. He has been Professor of Composition at the Indiana University School of Music since 1992. Teaching composition continues to be a major component of Freund’s career; students from 30 years of teaching have won an impressive array of awards and recognitions.

Recent CD releases of music by Don Freund include Madame Bovary Ballet Suite, Soft Cells, Viola Concerto, Dissolving Music (Indiana University Orchestas and New Music Ensemble, IUSOM-10), Triomusic (Verdehr Trio on Crystal), Jug Blues & Fat Pickin’ (Cincinnati CCM Wind Ensemble on Klavier), Pentecost and Hard Cells (Indiana New Music Ensemble), Radical Light (Bowling Green Philharmonia on Albany), Rough and Tumble (Pastiche Ensemble on ACF-Innova) and Backyard Songs (Jubal Trio on CRI). As a pianist, Freund’s recital repertoire has extended back from new music to several complete performances of Bach’s WTC Book I and his own pianistic realizations of Machaut. He has performed his Earthdance Concerto with wind ensembles at Florida State University, West Virginia University, and Bowling Green State University.

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