The New Century Saxophone Quartet kicks off the Raritan River Music Festival May 4.
By: Susan Van Dongen
Having a saxophone player in the White House was not only good for the United States, it was beneficial for the New Century Saxophone Quartet, who were invited to perform for former President Clinton several times during his tenure. It must have been interesting to play for a chief executive officer who could also find his way around a Selmer, maybe even sit in and jam after a command performance.
"Bill Clinton was great," says Stephen Pollock, founding member of the NCSQ. "He’s a nice guy and he was very interested in what we do. We played for Mr. Clinton three times, once in 1995, then for his second inaugural party, and then we played there Christmas 2000."
The White House was just one of many prestigious invitations the NCSQ has received in roughly 20 years of performances. They’ve also been heard on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, graced the stage at Carnegie Hall in 1993, and presented a live broadcast from Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in the Netherlands.
On May 4, the NCSQ will be at Prallsville Mills in Stockton to kick off the Raritan River Music Festival. The Festival, celebrating its 13th year, also features baroque ensemble Rebel in Bloomsbury May 11 and guitarist Michael Newman in Stanton on May 18. The Festival concludes with a concert by the Newman and Oltman Guitar Duo with the Meridian String Quartet, May 25 in Clinton.
Known for its explorations beyond traditional repertoire for four saxophones, NCSQ is equally comfortable with classical chamber music and contemporary works with funk and jazz influences.
NCSQ is especially known for commissioning works for saxophone quartet, with original compositions by Peter Schickele, Arthur Frackenpohl, Ben Johnston and Ken Valitsky. Lenny Pickett, known for leading the Saturday Night Live house band, as well as being a longtime member of the Tower of Power, wrote for the NCSQ.
"He’s a well-trained musician," Mr. Pollock says. "We won’t be doing it this season, but the (Pickett) piece is very bluesy. The last movement incorporates African rhythms and has a nice tenor part."
The NCSQ will perform "Quartet Number Three" at Prallsville Mills a specially commissioned piece by Bob Mintzer, composer and jazz saxophonist with the Yellowjackets. They’ll also reach back in music history to perform what Mr. Pollock believes is the very first saxophone quartet ever written.
"It was written by J.B. Singelee in 1857, which would have been within 10 or 15 years of when the saxophone was invented," Mr. Pollock says. "The piece sounds a lot like Brahms, Schumann, late Beethoven."
Mr. Pollock stresses the difference in sonic colors and timbres of the various saxophones, of utmost importance to the NCSQ’s integrity as a chamber group. Whereas jazz, pop and rock sax players will switch back and forth between the alto, tenor and soprano as well as flute and sometimes even clarinet the individuals in the NCSQ have settled permanently on their particular instrument.
"To be a master of the horn you have to spend a lot of time with it," Mr. Pollock says. "You can’t be an alto player who plays baritone. You have to specialize. That’s no different than a string quartet. You wouldn’t have the cellist switching to violin from piece to piece."
The NCSQ’s current lineup includes Mr. Pollock on tenor, Christopher Hemingway on alto, Brad Hubbard on baritone and Michael Stephenson on soprano.
"Finding your instrument is a natural thing, the same way you find your voice," says Mr. Pollock. "People gravitate to the instrument that works well for them. Tenor happened to be the one I have a passion for, probably because I was drawn to the music of John Coltrane, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and younger artists like Branford Marsalis, Lenny Pickett and Michael Brecker. Then when I heard James Houlik play, that convinced me."
The original members of the NCSQ came together at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C., to study with Mr. Houlik, considered the world’s leading classical tenor saxophone player. He now teaches at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where Mr. Pollock is an adjunct professor.
Mr. Pollock describes himself as "an Army brat, born in Germany," who picked up the saxophone in junior high school, about 30 years ago.
"We’re definitely a democracy," Mr. Pollock says. "We don’t have a leader. We’re four ‘brothers’ who work very hard at this. All of us started in bands, and played in rock and jazz groups, but we gravitated toward chamber music.
"We founded the NCSQ as a chamber group," he says. "That was our mission. When we started the group, there was a need for a serious saxophone quartet out there that played on the same level as the Juilliard String Quartet, for example. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re doing really well, playing really solidly. We don’t want to become sedentary. We always want to work to play better."
The New Century Saxophone Quartet opens the Raritan River Music Festival with a concert at Prallsville Mills, Route 29, one-quarter mile north of Stockton, May 4, 7:30 p.m. The Baroque ensemble Rebel performs at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church, Route 173, Bloomsbury, May 11, 7:30 p.m. Guitarist Michael Newman will give a concert at Stanton Reformed Church, Route 629, Stanton, May 18 7:30 p.m. The Festival concludes with a performance by the Newman and Oltman Guitar Duo with the Meridian String Quartet, Clinton Presbyterian Church, 91 Center St., Clinton. Tickets for individual concerts cost $17; $10 seniors/students. For information, call (908) 213-1100. On the Web: www.raritanrivermusic.org