Paper Pony Song feat. Sean Silva, and Aaron Nakaji

performed by Kenari Quartet:
Bob Eason - soprano saxophone
Kyle Baldwin - alto saxophone
Corey Dundee - tenor saxophone
Steven Banks - baritone saxophone

Shifting Gears, for saxophone quartet

I found Vienna Tang's Hymn of Acxiom through the work I do in marching band, and I figured this would be a great piece for saxophones. The song has a beautiful dichotomy of uplifting inspirational harmony with disturbing lyrics that Tang explains that the song was inspired by a marketing algorithm that keeps track of most of our info on the web. This is the first of my arrangements for saxophone ensemble. Instrumentation is: SSAATTBBBs. I do not own the music only the arrangement. 

Hymn Of Acxiom (Cover)

The Resurgam Quartet performing the first movement of A Schumann Bouquet, a collection of pieces written by Robert Schumann arranged for saxophone quartet by William Bolcom

Robert Schumann (arr. Bolcom)-A Schumann Bouquet I. Lieber Mai (Beloved Maytime)

Star Bits is inspired by the tiny crystalline objects of the same name found throughout the video game 'Super Mario Galaxy.' The star bits are a collectible item that can be seen falling from the sky, bursting out of hidden locations, bouncing around the stage, or floating in groups forming various geometric patterns. I believe that, if personified, these star bits would have a quirky disposition similar to my own, and my portrayal of this aesthetic is the driving force behind this piece."

Performed by Corey Dundee (Taos, NM - January 2015)

Star Bits, for solo alto saxophone

NOTE:
Workshop recording of two excerpts from a 40-minute cycle of choral works to be premiered in 2020

PERFORMED BY:
The Crossing

ABOUT:
Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for The Crossing and based on the Novgorod Codex, a 10th-Century palimpsest text by the dualistic monk Isaakiy who was excommunicated from the Orthodox Church for using pagan texts and rituals in his worship. Music is assembled from sonic fragments of psalms and hymns from the medieval Russian and Byzantine liturgy that are acoustically transformed, transcribed, and reharmonized using contemporary materials. Original lyrics are constructed from individual words drawn from the Novgorod Codex and contemporary texts by writers in various states of displacement — by Oscar Wilde, Thanhha Lai, The Rolling Stones, Leila Abdelrazaq, Pablo Neruda, etc — and applied freely to each musical phrase (using a database charting scansion, number of syllables, part of speech, etc) creating a new text that still retains traces of its originals.

The Book Of Never (Excerpts)

Concerto for alto saxophone and wind ensemble. Premiered by Jonathan Yanik (saxophone), Captain Brian O. Walden, and the United States Navy Band. 

Dreams in the Dusk

Saxophonist, composer, educator, Joseph David Spence has made a name as an advocate for the saxophone in the concert hall and in his own compositions.  As the son of a film composer, Joseph David Spence’s compositional voice is rooted in musical storytelling told through a contemporary harmonic and aesthetic lens and is influenced by the great film and concert music composers of our time. Spence’s music has been performed throughout the United States by such ensembles as the Donald Sinta Quartet and KC VITAs. His main teachers include Gilda Lyons, Robert Carl, Larry Alan Smith, David Macbride, and Mark Edward Lewis.

Hymn Of Acxiom (Cover)

Joseph David Spence

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