A Conductor’s and Performer’s Guide to Steven Bryant’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone - Chester Jenkins

102 LULLOFF: Yeah, I’d come down and do it. I’d never want to step on Mike’s toes, or anybody’s toes. Is Russ Mikkelson still there? JENKINS: Yes LULLOFF: Russ and I go way back JENKINS: He told me! Obviously I’m a saxophonist, but I’m one of his conducting students as well. LULLOFF: Russ is a great guy. JENKINS: Yeah, really cool dude. LULLOFF: But anyway, I’m not trying to get a gig. But yeah I am. So tell Russ I’m available for hire, and you know whatever. I can play the high F now. But that would be a whole ‘nother revision or another edition. It’s up to him, it’s up to Bryant. But then I’d have to re-record it. But that wouldn’t be the end of the world. I’d be happy to do that. So the point is, I said the sky’s the limit. So he said ‘What about some of these rips?’ (Sings m. 227 of third movement) And I said, ‘Yeah, that’d doable.’ And I mean…I came back out of that meeting and like, ‘What the hell did I just do to myself?’ Because I’m doing things down tempo. And then Janet got to enjoy hours and hours of practice. JENKINS: Sure LULLOFF: But it just kept coming easy. Not easy in a sense that it’s easy to play. But it seemed natural. You know, natural. Yeah it’s work. But it’s natural work. GOURWITZ: That’s what you mean by easy… LULLOFF: Don’t take…help me out… GOURWITZ: Joe owns this piece. It’s been performed by one other person. This is Joe’s piece. It’ll be performed by others… LULLOFF: I want it performed a lot by others… GOURWITZ: Because of all the time he spent with Steven, and because of the way Joe is. He didn’t just pick it up and figure out, ‘I can play this.’ Right? He literally owns it. And to me, that’s such a treat to see him perform it live, and to listen to the recording. Because I know what’s been going on. So, what you don’t know. Kevin, or Shelly Berg at the University of Miami has asked me to commission something. Or this one I actually asked Steven. Otherwise I don’t really know the other people to start with. I love jazz. Joe is one of the very few saxophone professors at this level. I don’t think there’s anybody else at Joe’s level for this, but that’s as adept at jazz and as comfortable as he is in classical. Many, many of the professors are great at classical, but they don’t have jazz