Last night we enjoyed another event in the Dickinson Area Concert Series. It was a concert by Presidio Saxophone Quartet from the Tucson, AZ area. Each of the men played a different saxophone: soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone. They were excellent, making the saxophone sound truly beautiful (which I don't recall thinking when hearing it played by classmates in high school [with apologies to my sister who herself played sax]). They played classical music and jazz and ragtime and modern.
In between songs, they took turns stepping to the microphone and telling a little about themselves, their travels, and their musical selections. Apparently they had played for a tough crowd in SD a few days earlier; they made much of the fact that we were a much more receptive, welcoming, energized, and attentive audience. But, hey, how could we not be? Their fingering and tonguing skills (simmer down, now . . .) were remarkable; they were able to play with speed and precision as well as dynamics and expression. Each concert in this series has amazed me and made me happy to have the chance to enjoy such fine music with my family, especially the kids, who are "getting culture," as one fellow audience member put it. (Hillary fell asleep a few minutes after the concert began, and Suzanna fell asleep after Presidio returned from intermission. Can one "get culture" passively while sleeping?)
P.S. Presidio shared little tidbits about the relatively young history of the saxophone, too, explaining that it wasn't created until the 1840s, so there isn't as much music written for the sax as for many other instruments. Learn a little about it yourself at "Sax Appeal" (love that title).
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