Alone Together: Ned Rothenberg at Wistariahurst Museum

Since Coleman Hawkins’ 1946 recording of “Picasso”, there has been a long history of solo saxophone recordings. Antony Braxton’s impactful 1968 record, For Alto, has been followed by  a proliferation of full length solo albums by iconoclasts like Steve Lacy, Joe McPhee, Hamiet Bluiett and David Murray. Some musicians, like the British reed players Evan Parker and John Butcher, have devoted considerable time to pursuing solo work. But no one has spent as much effort or developed as complete a language for solo wind instruments as Ned Rothenberg.

Playing alto saxophone, clarinets and shakuhachi flute, Rothenberg gave 50 listeners who assembled at the Wistariahurst Museum on November 2 a master class on unaccompanied performance. The 69 year old, Boston-born reed player was celebrating his new release, Looms & Legends (Pyroclastic), his latest in a long line of solo recordings. In fact, Rothenberg’s first two recordings under his own name, Trials of the Argo (1981) and Portal (1983), were solo efforts. (Reissued as The Lumina Recordings on Tzadik Records.)

Rothenberg explained the title of the new record as a focus on texture (looms) and narrative (legends). It was the perfect framing to appreciate his 60 minute recital, which was full of both applied sound science and storytelling. The marble Music Room of the venerable Holyoke landmark provided the perfect acoustic setting for the concert.

He began the afternnon with a lengthy exploration on B-flat clarinet. Using circular breathing and his leg as a mute of sorts, Rothenberg created a complete sound world full of melody and multiphonics. What struck me throughout the performance was how he was able to sustain and develop ideas that kept my attention. Where was he going next? Although forged through a lifetime of studious refinement, he made it look natural, if not easy.

He then switched to alto sax for another long sonic investigation. Fully evolved extended techniques allowed him to create multiple lines simultaneously, as if in dialogue with himself. It was astounding and very musical.

Rothenberg’s extensive use of circular breathing, which allowed him to produce a continuous sound without pausing to take a breath, resulted in thick cascades of notes. The technique is achieved by storing a small amount of air in the cheeks and using those muscles to push air out through the mouth while simultaneously inhaling new air through the nose.

After these two long salvos, his third piece, also played on alto sax, changed the dynamic. He told us this was the closest he had come to writing an anthem, and the composition, “Resistance Anthem”, unfurled as a short, unadorned hymn. The piece is found on Looms & Legends, and as he writes in the liner notes, “the focused attention on sonic expression might help the individual keep a connection with their humanity and reinforce positive human endeavors – love, empathy and truth-seeking.”

Next he picked up the A clarinet, which is a semitone lower than its B-flat cousin, is slightly longer, and has a darker, more mellow sound. He mentioned that Mozart and Brahms composed with the A clarinet in mind, and indeed it has a rich tradition in classical music. On this improvisation, and throughout the concert, Rothenberg displayed a technical level of control and command that has very few parallels in creative music. We were witnessing genius at work.

Sunday’s concert concluded with a succinct reading of Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight”, played on shakuhachi. (The new recording ends the same way.) An end-blown bamboo flute developed in Japan in the 16th century, the shakuhachi has only five finger holes, but changes in blowing angle, embouchure and fingering can produce rich variation in tone color. Rothenberg spent a considerable amount of time in Japan, including a 6-month residency during which he studied the instrument with two of its foremost masters, Goro Yamaguchi and Katsuya Yokoyama. It's been part of his performance practice for almost 40 years, and today he is regarded as one of the most accomplished, western practitioners of the instrument.

I first met Rothenberg in 2009 when I produced a memorable duo concert with Evan Parker at UMass. I invited him back in 2016 with his project, Inner Diaspora (Jerome Harris, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Satoshi Takeishi), and he made a cameo appearance during Sylvie Courvoisier’s concert in Northampton last year. Rothenberg is a serious musician with an open invitation to return to western Massachusetts, with or without colleagues. Everything he touches turns to music.