Now Boarding
This is the debut recording by the Quad Quartet, a Portugese ensemble established in 2004. Running at around 45 minutes, the CD consists of six substantial tracks, three by fellow Portugese composers, (interestingly all also featured on the Apollo album Short Cuts), and three by the Dutch composer Chiel Meijering, a prolific chamber music writer with over 20 saxophone quartets to his name and a highly individual line in titles!
The selected pieces sit together well in a strong and effective programme of interesting contemporary works, all of which reveal influences from other genres, often jazz but also rock and pop, Baroque and classical music. Sometimes this is just a subtle flavour, as in the delightful jazz tinted Fuga, while elsewhere direct quotations appear in a new guise, such as the upbeat Latin treatment of the Country and Western tune in Mammas and some surprise references in Kwispelgerst.
This is an album of contrasts – smooth and sharp textures in Short Cuts, light and shade in Sun Flower, density and space in I Like Rats. Lyrical melodies are juxtaposed with rhythmic passages, discords are balanced by calm episodes, and frantic activity is countered by thoughtful phrases. There are funky basslines, running melodic lines, staccato interjections, pulsing tones, hooting chords like car horns, and pungent jazz-infused cadences.
These pieces are intense, involving many notes and requiring a high level of commitment and concentration. The players rise to the considerable technical challenges, giving a spirited and entertaining performance with a good balance and blend. This CD would not be everyone’s cup of tea but should certainly appeal to saxophonists and anyone with broad musical tastes.
Alison Owen-Morley
Clarinet and Saxophone magazine, Summer 2010
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