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

126 SEDATOLE: Of course, in the sections that the saxophone and bass take off by themselves. It’s definitely doable, but it is an issue at first, learning how to manage that. The end of the piece is difficult to manage, because of just the endurance of it. And the placement of the beat…it’s easy to get turned around in that thing. I know that when Jerry Junkin did it with Dallas Winds and Joe soloed. He asked me, ‘Did you guys have any issues with the end of the third movement?’ Like, yeah a bit, until we ran it enough times until it felt comfortable. It’s just changing meters enough to throw people. JENKINS: You’re speaking of about the last 20 some bars. SEDATOLE: Yes JENKINS: With regard with that section in the second movement where obviously the ensemble is going at half-note equals 45 and they take off. When you say, ‘managing’ that, is there anything that you’ve found to make that process work easier. SEDATOLE: Yeah, you have to have a bass player who feels very comfortable with a walking bass line and pushing the soloist. Which we did. That wasn’t a big deal. Not every bass player. In fact, when Dallas Winds performed it, Jerry brought down the bass player that I used, because he just didn’t want to fool with that. So it was just easier to do it that way. The bass player has to know what the saxophone is going to do basically. And they’ve got to have a good feel for each other. The same is true at the end of the second movement. Beginning and end. With the piano and the bass, which seems, not very difficult. But for the placement of those notes, to make sure they’re right on the money. And particularly if the saxophone soloist is going to stretch at all, it gets tedious, to play it exactly together. So it’s got to be a bass player who has a great sense of time, but also feel. And pianist too. Even though it’s not a very difficult part until you have to sit down to play it. JENKINS: (Laughs) That was one of my first thoughts when saw this for the first time. It’s so slow. Which is I think one of the cool things about when the sax and bass finally enter. You’ve had this tension for so long. SEDATOLE: That’s right. It definitely makes you wait. JENKINS: Besides obviously getting the bass player closer to the saxophonist was there anything that you did differently as far as seating or anything with the ensemble with this piece? SEDATOLE: Not really, not really. JENKINS: I didn’t think so, but I was just curious if anything else popped up.