Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

Apr 29 2008

Dynamic Duos

Published by Alex at 9:08 pm under inspiration, music, performance

There are so many guitar and saxophone duos in the world! Who even knew?! I think that most (if not all) of them were in North Carolina for the festival at UNC Wilmington, and it was a huge treat to hear them play. They have wonderful elegant names too, like Ryoanji, Sygyzy, Degre 21, Remeleixo, Montagnard, of course my lovely Cuypers/Lop, and one duo that remains unnamed because they are so very flexible.

I confess that I am smitten by the sound of these two instruments! Amplifying the guitar just a little overcomes balance issues, resulting in a delicious, bright, sparkling sound. David Kechley, the composer-in-residence, has concocted some seriously bad-ass music for this combo which you should check out asap.

So after a few days of all this, I think it’s safe to say that some musicians do resemble their instruments:

Saxophonists are definitely the talkers. So chatty! They are the ones working the crowd, making connections and lining up future gigs.

Needless to say, the guitarists are more quiet, preferring to hang out and let the sax players do their thing. Oh sure, they’ll inject a comment or two, but only when they really feel like it. And they will totally polish off the wine when you are not looking!

It’s actually a perfect balance. The guitarists mellow out the sax players, the sax players energize the guitarists, and they end up together in a really good space. It was inspiring to see how well these duos get along - some are spouses, some have been friends since they were children, some are colleagues at the same university - and how much they seem to genuinely enjoy playing music together.

Enrique and Carola gave excellent performances of Mythimna Twilight, both in North Carolina and here in DC. They were excited to play at the Kennedy Center!