Brilliant, "next level" saxophone work
author: John Book/The Run-Off Groove
Colin Stetson is not your ordinary saxophone player. He can play it in a jazz manner, the saxophone is a celebrated instrument in the genre. But you can hear it in classical, rock'n'roll, soul, funk, electronic, and various styles of music from around the world. New History Warfare Vol. 1 (Aagoo) sounds like its title, the album is an audio attack where the saxophone is put into the hands of someone who wants to take it out of its own comfort zone and put it in places unknown.
While Stetson has been involved in a number of group projects, this is his first solo album. It is a true solo album, he is the only one who plays on it, and the liner notes indicate that all songs were recorded live, no overdubs or loops. This is said because some of these sounds sound "treated" and "altered", because some songs sound as if there were four people in the studio, while others don't quite sound like something that would come out of a saxophone. "And It Fought To Escape", the opening track, sounds like a train slowly speeding up, and it sounds like a non-stop eight minute barrage of loops, bursts, grunts, and blasts. The guy has some mean breath control, and it sounds like he's never going to stop. "Time Is Advancing WIth Fitful Irregularity" sounds like an on-location recording of a ship coming into the dock of a harbor, while "Stand, Walk" appears to be an amplified saxophone that sounds like someone playing an electric bass. Other tracks has him playing with effects, perhaps with guitar pedals or some time of other effect. Miles Davis was known for playing through a microphone that was hooked up to a wah-wah pedal, resulting in sounds that sounded like a keyboard or guitar, but this goes much further than that. He may start out with playing a phrase, and then the drums kick in as he plays over it. Then you realize the drums you're hearing is Stetson. Again, no overdubs or loops, this is stuff that is being played and recorded live. He also does a little beat box excursion, before creating the sound of assassination.
Stetson alternates between various saxophones and a clarinet, but what he does with it makes the selection of instruments almost a moot issue. I say "almost", because obviously that's the factor that will make people want to hear this, how he has a love of turning the sound coming out of his saxophone into something else. New History Warfare Vol. 1 sounds like music from someone who knows the rules, but does everything in his power to not follow them.
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