Devroop and Prins Duo

Abstract

The piano and saxophone duo has emerged as a powerful musical combination, demonstrating the evolution of both instruments and their significant role in shaping contemporary music. The piano, dating back several centuries, has undergone various advancements in design and technique and has expanded its role on both classical and jazz music. It also features prominently in other styles of music such as Brazilian music. Similarly, the saxophone, a relatively newer addition to the musical landscape, has carved its niche in the world of jazz and classical genres. Together, these instruments are able to create a harmonious blend, each complementing the other's unique qualities in both classical and jazz genres.

The importance of the piano and saxophone duo lies in its ability to captivate listeners and evoke powerful emotions. However much depends on their choice of repertoire as the classical duo remains the hallmark of this duo setup. The jazz piano and jazz saxophone duo although in existence for some time, has not risen to the prominence of their classical counterparts. It is rare or almost never happens that a classical pianist will collaborate with a jazz saxophonist. A quick review of the literature specifically online recordings and concerts reveals a very small number of such performances. While artists such as Phil Woods have written works for classical piano and jazz saxophone, performances and recordings remain scarce.

It is against this backdrop that I decided to collaborate with Megan Geoffrey Prins who is an internationally recognised classical pianist. The goal of this project was to have us collaborate in a new and totally unique setting, namely a concert for classical piano and jazz saxophone. There were several challenges associated with such a project. Firstly, repertoire was a problem due to the very limited amount of repertoire available to such a duo. Secondly such a project would require me as the jazz saxophonist to have significant technical ability in order for the performance to be truly collaborative from a technical perspective.

The choice of repertoire was overcome by firstly selecting works that would lend themselves to jazz style, interpretation and possibly improvisation. Most of the works by Astor Piazzolla meet this criteria although some works can be technically very demanding for saxophone. I deliberately selected Piazzolla works including Oblivion, Libertango, Tango Preparense and Tanti Anni that would work well with jazz style, interpretation and improvisation. John Williams recently composed a three-piece suite for jazz saxophone, vibes and full orchestra. This work was written for the Steven Spielberg move “Catch me if you can” with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. The work was subsequently reduced to piano and saxophone. Although extremely technically demanding for saxophone, it is one of the few works that is truly collaborative in nature for a classical pianist and jazz saxophonist.

We rehearsed extensively due to relatively new environment for both artists. Many adjustments needed to be made in the music such as changes in form to accommodate sections for jazz improvisation, stylistic changes to include jazz interpretation and greater liberties for the classical pianist to play in a more improvisatory nature. After extensive rehearsals, we performed these works for a near full audience at Miriam Makeba Hall at the Unisa Muckleneuk campus in Pretoria. Needless to say the concert was an overwhelming success. This motivated to expanded on our literature. These concerts will be performed in 2023 and 2024 including a national tour.

This creative is new and innovative in the following ways: 1. This is the first instances in SA that a classical pianist and jazz saxophonist have performed in concert together. There are only a handful of international concerts of this nature. 2. Given the very small number of works composed for this type of duo, this output significantly expands on the literature currently available. 3. The interpretation of these works presents new insights into how these and other works may be performed in this setting.

We envision expanding on the current literature but working up the entire 3 movement suite of the work by John Williams, identifying other composers whose works may be suitable for this type of setting, potentially recording some these works and finally commissioning composers to write original works for this duo while taking cognizance of the myriad of styles present in South Africa and the continent.