TOO MUCH SAX AND VIOLINS (UNITED KINGDOM)
Review by

Now and again I like to jump right out of my comfort zone and bring you all something completely fresh and contemporary. This time, I jumped into the world of contemporary jazz saxophone. I was excited to receive this commission, and it came to me completely out of the blue.

One day, I was sitting at my laptop doing some financial stuff (invoices, taxes etc), and an e-mail popped into my inbox. It was from Todd Oxford, Associate Professor of Saxophone and Chamber Music at Texas State University, who was asking me to put him in touch with my editor at Audiophile Audition (the US-based web magazine I work for). Having done so, we ended up discussing his latest album, and a couple of weeks later, it arrived through my door!

“Synaesthesia” is Todd’s latest offering, and is a disc of contemporary American music for Saxophone (Soprano and Alto) and a variety of forces, including piano, bass trombone, women’s chorus, and wind symphony. From this alone, I knew I’d have quite the varied fare to get through!

The opening track, which gives its name to the album, seemed to tell me straight away that I was going to be in for a good time with this recording. The melodies and harmonies were crisp and clear, and there was an innate sense of rhythm and feeling for high quality musicality that just could not be doubted or faulted. With moods ranging from the playfully cheeky to the smooth, “Synaethesia” (composed by Aaron Carter-Enyi) is a fun piece, and made for great listening! Oxford’s playing style is silver-tongued from the off