New Century Saxophone Quartet - A New Century Christmas (2000)

When we decided to do a Christmas recording we knew we had to do something out of the ordinary. Artistically it didnt make any sense to record a bunch of carols or swing versions of everyones favorite holiday hits. And besides, its just not in our nature to do any project in a standard sort of way. So as we discussed what we did and did not want the disc to be (in an SUV somewhere between El Paso and Dallas), we arrived at what we thought was a pretty original idea. We decided to contact all of our composer-friends and offer them the following scenario: Write an arrangement of a Christmas tune in your own compositional style, using the tune as much or as little as you desire, with the final goal being a re-composition of a familiar tune with your personal stamp on it. We more or less assigned specific tunes to avoid duplication, and left the composers on their own. Thankfully, all of the responses to the idea were positive, so we were encouraged and figured that if the composers were enthusiastic about the project, we were off to a good start. As our first reading session for the new music neared, we began to realize what a risk we took in commissioning an entire CD of original Christmas music. This realization was accompanied by a bit of fear as well! Those fears were quickly put to rest as we read through the compositions one-by-one, delighting by the quality of each. After one reading we knew we had achieved our goal of assembling a high-quality collection of original music that is eclectic, witty, serious, silly, and different all adjectives that have been used to describe us as an ensemble. We believe that the quality of the music surpasses anything currently available for saxophone quartet in this genre, and perhaps any other chamber ensemble as well. It does so with endless variety: There are traditional carol-like arrangements, modern versions of old standards, jazz- and pop-influenced styles, and contemporary original music. Every piece exceeded our expectations and we couldnt be more pleased with the efforts of every composer. The notes that follow are a collection of each composers thoughts about his own music.