Original image by There Stands the Glass.
World Saxophone Quartet was a favorite among critics for publications like The Village Voice when I first committed to becoming conversant in improvised music. In the pre-internet era, terrestrial jazz radio was almost as stiflingly conservative as it is today. I was forced to imagine the sounds made by the collective of Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray.
While my guesswork was entirely illogical, I was surprised at the sparseness of the music when I finally heard a World Saxophone Quartet recording. The lush sound of Echoes, the Signum Saxophone Quartet album released by Deutsche Grammophon in January, is more in keeping with what I’d expected.
Cellist Hila Karni joins the quartet on a breathtaking arrangement of Max Richter’s popular “On the Nature of Daylight” and Paul Hindemith’s melancholy “Trauermusik: IV. Choral.” A serene cover of Joep Beving’s “Ab Ovo” further validates Signum’s overt crossover bid. The voice of Grace Davidson fills out an interpretation of Gabriel Faure’s “Pie Jesu.”
Signum’s repertoire spans centuries. Echoes opens with John Dowland’s luminous “Lachrimae Antiquae” (1604) and closes with Guillermo Lago’s haunting “Ciudades: Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)” (2011), the only piece specifically written for a saxophone quartet.
In spite of their different orientations, Signum and World Saxophone Quartet aren’t terribly dissimilar. A recent performance of selections from Echoes indicates the four Europeans are capable of brief bursts of freewheeling swing.
Having suffered through a time of comparative deprivation, I’m immensely grateful to live in an era in which the universe of recorded music that includes dozens of saxophone quartets is accessible with an internet connection. In 2021, limiting oneself to familiar sounds is a willful act of self-harm.