REVIEWS

By Leonid Auskern 


Saxophone quartets in jazz is not a massive phenomenon, but not uncommon. The American Quartet Four, an ensemble of a classic saxophone quartet: soprano (Mark Watkins) - alto (Ray Smith) - tenor (Sandon Mayhew) - baritone (Jon Gudmundson), in this respect it stands out for the "professorial" level of its participants: they all teach art playing saxophone in various educational institutions, and Mark Watkins is also actively involved in the work of the World Saxophone Congresses. Four is a frequent guest at prestigious festivals around the world, and the quartet released its first album back in 2006. Today You are presenting Thinking Again is already the fifth in the group's discography, and here the concept of this work is really very unusual.

According to Watkins album liner notes, her idea originated during a joint performance with a similar Luxembourg team Saxitude in 2012: this is the idea of ​​a “double quartet”. The album There You Go Thinking Again has ten tracks. In addition to Four, five quartets participated in the recording of the album: two American, from Miami and from Utah, the Scottish quartet of Richard Ingram, the same Saxitude and the Croatian Zagreb Quartet, whose main specialty is academic music. Four of them are also of classical composition, but in Saxitude there are two violists, a tenorist and a baritoneist. With each of these bands Four performs two compositions. The lion's share of the plays was composed by Mark Watkins, but in alliances with quartets from Miami, Scotland and Luxembourg, one of the recorded compositions is represented by the authors of the respective groups.

It turned out interesting! The double sounding of instruments, the most complex, lacy interlacing of voices of "high" and "low" saxophones, beautiful themes, cool arrangements and, of course, bright soloists. Already in the starting I Got Nothin ’But Nothin’ Watkins, Mike Brignoles solo from Miami on a baritone saxophone and his partners, alto saxophone Smith (Four) and tenor saxophone player Ed Kalle (Miami), remembered. Immediately in several plays on the stage came the musicians of Four - Watkins on soprano saxophone and Mayhew on tenor saxophone. And the most beautiful composition of the album seemed to me the Newstime play Roby Rent from Saxitude, performed along with Four by his team. But this is a matter of individual perception. But in general, the album simply cannot fail to please the numerous fans of the instrument, which for many is a symbol of jazz.