Episode 309, in which we go to a saxophone concert

Last night, we had the pleasure of going to hear the Washington Saxophone Quartet in concert at UCA. They were artists in residence this week, giving lessons, a master class (which I would have liked to go to, had I not been working), attending classes, and giving the concert. It was quite a good concert, with music from Bach, Pat Metheny, Paquito d'Rivera, and Aaron Copeland, among others. My favorites were the Concerto by Allessandro Marcello - originally written for oboe and orchestra - that they played with the addition of the UCA saxophone professor, Jackie Lamar, the "New York Suite" by Paquito d'Rivera, and the one movement they played from "Songs for Tony," by Michael Nyman. I used to play the alto sax all the time - took classical and jazz lessons, played in band and jazz band - until I got to college and only had time for one instrument, and I used to absolutely love the alto. Now that I have been playing the bassoon for so long, I found myself more drawn to the sound of the tenor and of the baritone. Interesting. The size of the audience was a little disappointing, given that the concert was free, but not too surprising. I think it would have been better had the concert been in a smaller auditorium, so the crowd wouldn't have been so spread out. Oh well, we had fun.