asylumquartet@gmail.com | 530-219-2333 26 Girard Ave, Apt 210 Hartford, CT 06105 www.asylumquartet.com

Joseph Abad soprano saxophone Tony Speranza alto saxophone

Max Schwimmer tenor saxophone Andrew Barnhart baritone saxophone

 

Reviews

The 2015 CMA/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming and Other New Music at CMA (excerpts) By Frank J. Oteri | January 23, 2015 | NewMusicBox

During the conference there were a total of 18 showcases (basically a half-hour mini-concert), each devoted to a different ensemble that was either categorized as “classical” or “jazz” and the majority of these groups focused on the music of our time. What was particularly interesting was that despite the nominal segregation, many of the groups were clearly indebted to both classical and jazz traditions, freely traversing between performance practices to create 21st century music. Some groups blurred additional lines as well.

…In their performance on four saxophones of “Ori’s Fearful Symmetry” from Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin’s pan world music-inflected Vjola Suite, a work originally written for strings, the Asylum Quartet were extremely comfortable with (and sounded requisitely-informed ethnomusicologically for) every nuance the score required of them.

…As music continues to evolve in the 21st century, the lines between composers, interpreters, and even the audience will perhaps grow even more porous and inclusive. And hopefully in future years, an even greater variety of people creating music today will have a role in these discussions and performances. Of all the ensembles featured in the commissions’ concert and the showcases, only 4 included vocalists even though the majority of people who perform music sing. This is not to imply that instrumental music shouldn’t merit a great deal of attention during these convenings, simply to point out that there is a ton of other non-instrumental chamber music repertoire and a ton of people who create and interpret it who merit inclusion here as well. Although women were widely represented in the performance and administrative spheres (as participants in showcases and recipients of adventurous programming awards), only 3 out of the 73 pieces of music scheduled for performance during the conference were actually composed by women (a mere 4.1%)—Polina Nazaykinskaya’s saxophone quartet Pavana Pour Quatre performed by Asylum and pieces byTonia Ko and Caroline Shaw for the cello/percussion duo New Morse Code. New music—a great of majority of which is for smaller forces—is being created by people of all ages, geographic locations, economic milieus, faiths, genders, and orientations. Showing the broadest possible range of this form of artistic expression is the best way to ensure that chamber music remains the viable force that it is and should always be.

 

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Newport Music Festival: Review For the younger set Outdoor Children’s Concert features fun, energetic quartet of saxophonists Posted: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 7:00 pm| Updated: 2:54 pm, Mon Jul 28, 2014. By Sandra Matuschka | The Newport Daily News | 0 comments Tuesday morning was perfect for the Newport Music Festival’s outdoor Children’s Concert, held under a grandly decorated tent at Blithewold Mansion in Bristol. The sole featured performers of the concert were members of the energetic and innovative Asylum Quartet, comprised of four saxophone players: Joseph Abad, soprano sax; Anthony Speranza, alto sax; Max Schwimmer, tenor sax; and Andrew Barnhart, baritone sax. The four alternated in providing information about the works they were playing, many of which were not on the printed program. They opened with “A. SAX,” a short light piece by the late “Moondog,” whose actual name was Louis Thomas Hardin. Abad told the audience a bit about the unusual Midwest-born composer/musician, who had been blind since the age of 16. He was self-taught in musical composition and studied at several schools for the blind, including the Iowa School for the Blind. Early on, he moved to New York City and spent most of his musical life performing on city streets, where he often dressed in Viking garb, and consequently became known as the “Viking of 6th Avenue.” Moondog died in 1999. Selections from “West Side Story” grabbed the children’s attention, especially “Gee, Officer Krupke,” which had them keeping time to the music. “I Feel Pretty” had one young curly-headed girl playing an invisible flute. You might not think that four such instruments could capture the softer, more graceful elements of such a score, but indeed, they did. Barnhart explained the functions of the four saxes, comparing them to a string quartet (the soprano and alto saxes similar to the violin, the tenor similar to the viola and cello, and the baritone like the cello or bass), and each performer played the sounds corresponding to the string instrument. The group then launched into a section of contemporary American composer Mark Mellits’ “Revolution” titled “Groove Machine,” an accelerated, somewhat staccato and repetitive piece reminiscent of early Philip Glass. Schwimmer announced another Moondog piece, “Chaconne in G Major” by saying that it was a “relaxed” piece and “repetitive in a playful way; we hope it’s not boring and that you enjoy it.” The music throughout the concert was certainly not boring, although it may have been new to many in its contemporariness, and it may not have been sufficiently geared to the smallest audience members (those about 6 and younger), who soon became more interested in playing with the hand fans donated by classical music station WCRI and each other than the music. Little ones began disappearing toward the end of the first half, some of whom could be seen playing among the trees in the sunshine. Children 8 and older seemed to enjoy the music, and one 11-year-old lad gave it an “8 out of 10.” Barnhart said that saxes had not been around as long as string quartets, so there was not as much written for them. There was, however, a work by Alexander Glazunov that was written in 1932, “Quartet for Saxophone in B flat, Op. 109.” Barnhart said the group would play “Two short

 

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variations of this piece.” The “Variation IV, a la Chopin” was a soothing melody, and the “Variation V, Scherzo” a feisty work that bumped along and garnered your attention. A large section of the concert was devoted to five works by Russian Lev Zhurbin, who goes by the name of Ljova. A contemporary eclectic composer, violist and arranger, he has authored over 70 original compositions. The quartet began with “Bagel on the Malacon,” based on the composer’s travels to Cuba. The Latinate rhythms were interspersed by foot stamping that provided interesting percussion. The end of the work had a definite Klezmer Yiddish flair to the spritely piece. “Plume” was Ljova’s nod to belly dancing, and Speranza told the audience that Ljova freely admitted he knew nothing about belly dancing when he wrote it. Abad and Speranza provided percussive elements in this work by some fancy hand clapping. “Ori’s Fearful Symmetry” was a kind of repetitive work, Schwimmer told the audience beforehand. In fact, it was reminiscent of a type of Eastern European cabaret, circa 1940s, altogether an engaging work, punctuated again by hand-clapping percussion. The fourth piece, “Cross Town,” was visually appealing and written by the composer on a late-night bus ride through New York; he used the words “chill and intoxicated” to describe it. The horns were easily able to provide the wailing sense of aloneness that you might experience on such a crosstown bus ride late at night, peering out of dusty windows at a city alight in the wee hours. The last movement, “Budget Bulgar,” was a Klezmer type of composition that the composer, who is a violist and plays at weddings, created after playing a wedding with a great old-time Klezmer pianist. He was inspired to run out to the parking lot and vocalize the piece to himself on voicemail so he would remember it. A small work by Moondog, “Reedroy,” began the second half of the concert, followed by a set of three “Homages” composed by guitarist Alan Thomas. The first homage was to the group Radiohead, a UK-based band, a bouncy pleasant tune, followed by one to Elliott Smith, an American singer/songwriter. This piece was a loosely bound work with a “swing and sway” and “oldies but goodies” feel to it. The third homage to Django Reinhardt, a French guitarist and Romani composer, had a distinct gypsy air evident in its bright and sassy presentation. Craig Levesque, a New Jersey composer, provided the next number, which was loosely based on Appalachian folk songs, and moved from serene to a bouncy rhythmic style enhanced by Schwimmer’s hand clapping. Composer Ian Wilson’s “Heaven Lay Close” contributed Part IV, “… breathing through the eye of a needle,” a fast-paced work of Indian harmonies sans the tabla, or drum-like percussion instrument. The concert ended with Guillermo Lago’s “Ciudades,” a three-part work that thematically covered three cities. In “Cordoba,” the beautifully intertwined notes of the four players were striking; in “Sarajevo,” and “Addis Ababa” marvelous finger work pervaded the exotic pieces with varying tempos, which had spliced-in unusual sound effects courtesy of Abad’s sax. The quartet provided evocative, educational and refreshing works, delivering an “and now for something completely different” kind of concert that would cause you to want to hear it again.

 

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Review: Hudson Valley Chamber Winds in Washingtonville By JAMES F. COTTER Posted Nov. 26, 2013 WASHINGTONVILLE — The Hudson Valley Chamber Winds celebrated musical birthdays and the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony Saturday evening at St. Mary's Church. The concert was organized by founder-director Adam Fontana and featured as guests the Asylum Quartet. The Asylum Quartet is made up of four saxophone players: Joseph Abad, soprano saxophone; Anthony Speranza, alto; Max Schwimmer, tenor; and Andrew Barnhart, baritone. They create a strong, solid sound with articulate timing and resonant tone. They began with the middle movement of Alexander Glazunov's Saxophone Quartet (1932): "Canzona Variee" in five variations of a Russian hymn. From a low mellow theme in slow tempo to higher octaves and sharp counterpointing in a Chopin style, it moves to an upbeat interweaving of high and low phrases to conclude with a fast-paced racing crescendo in a Romantic flourish. The chorale blend was full-bodied and lively, firmly captured and expressed by the players. The last section of "Heaven Lay Close" (2011) by Ian Wilson is titled "Breathing Through the Eye of a Needle," and was played by the quartet with precision in an East Indian style. With almost wild improvisation, the piece creates jazz figures developed by each player with nonstop virtuoso skills. "Ciudades" (2011) by Guillermo Lago followed, with three numbers reflecting the composer's travels: "Cordoba (Espana)," "Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)" and "Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)." Slow tenor, soaring soprano, plaintive alto calls and low breathing baritone, all exchange passages of exciting dialogues in changing rhythms and colors. - See more at: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131126/LIFE/311260307/-1/NEWS14#sthash.vGyMK82D.dpuf