{"id":334,"date":"2015-06-28T13:27:58","date_gmt":"2015-06-28T17:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/royalcitysax.com\/?page_id=334"},"modified":"2015-06-28T13:37:47","modified_gmt":"2015-06-28T17:37:47","slug":"cdrel2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/royalcitysax.com\/?page_id=334","title":{"rendered":"The Royal City Saxophone Quartet – Ticklin’ Time…from Joplin to Gershwin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n

Press Release - Ticklin' Time...from Joplin to Gershwin<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\r\n <\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n

\r\n <\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n
\r\n \r\n
\"CD<\/a><\/td>\r\n October, 1999<\/strong>


\r\n The Royal City Saxophone Quartet is pleased to announce the release of their second\r\n Compact Disc recording: Ticklin' Time...from Joplin to Gershwin<\/em>!
\r\n
\r\n <\/font>\r\n

\r\n
\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n
\t\r\n Order It Now for only US$16.99
\r\n\t\t by Secure Payment on Paypal.com:<\/B>
\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/a>\r\n\t\t <\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n
<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <\/table>\r\n <\/center>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n
<\/td>\r\n <\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <\/table>\r\n

The music of the 20th\r\n Century is the story of Jazz. In that time it was born. It flourished and it continues to\r\n explore the edge of creativity. The RCSQ revisits the origins of Jazz when they play\r\n Ragtime, then they dance through time to the beat of Stride, Blues, and Swing. <\/font><\/em><\/p>\r\n

The saxophone has endeared itself to\r\n generations of music lovers. It has stood outside the gate with common folk, clowned\r\n around a bit, ultimately taking centre stage in the hearts of a century. Let Ticklin' Time\r\n take you on a jazz journey. <\/font><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Ticklin' Time<\/em> features 18 lively arrangements\r\n in over 55 minutes of music composed by Joplin, Gershwin, Kern, Handy, Lamb, Wiedoeft, and\r\n others, as well as a terrific new arrangement of The Dill Pickles Rag by Colorado arranger\r\n Jerry K. Elliott.<\/p>\r\n


\r\n The Royal City Saxophone Quartet is a professional ensemble based in Guelph, Ontario\r\n performing in a variety of venues across North America since 1991.<\/p>\r\n

Ticklin' Time<\/em> is available for sale and distribution at the\r\n addresses below at the suggested retail price of $19.95 CDN ($14.95 US).
\r\n
\r\n <\/font>What's on the CD<\/a><\/font><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Although this CD highlights the Ragtime of Joplin and the Jazz of\r\n Gershwin, it opens and closes with pieces written specifically for saxophones, on the\r\n trailing edge of the Ragtime era.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Smiles and Chuckles<\/b> is a lively "rag one-step",\r\n composed for The Six Brown Brothers, a family of saxophonists originally from Ottawa,\r\n Canada, who dressed in clown costumes and makeup. They became a huge success over a span\r\n of about twenty years in the United States in the early part of the 20th<\/sup>\r\n century. It is appropriate that a new Canadian group like the RCSQ should open the new\r\n century by reviving tunes originally performed by their countrymen pioneers. In the last\r\n several years, the RCSQ has certainly travelled along a similar path to the Brown\r\n Brothers, performing for audiences as far from home as Sedalia, Missouri at the Centennial\r\n Celebration of the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival. <\/font><\/p>\r\n

Scott Joplin, heralded as the King of Ragtime, composed Ragtime Dance<\/b>\r\n as a kind of ragtime ballet based on five contemporary social dance themes. Although the\r\n early dance-steps are long forgotten, our audiences love to mark the strong beats and\r\n tacets with footwork of their own. Tim does a terrific job leaping the intervals on the\r\n Soprano up to altissimo high G.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

In contrast to Ragtime Dance, Weeping Willow<\/b> is like a\r\n particularly graceful folk song and features Joplin's strongly rhythmic trio, which\r\n continues the flowing cantilena<\/i> through this ensemble version.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Solace<\/b>, subtitled by Joplin as "a Mexican Serenade", is\r\n his only work in tango rhythm. Originally from Cuba, this rhythm entered American piano\r\n literature as early as 1860 by way of the African cult houses where it is said to have\r\n been known by its African tribal name, tangana<\/i>. Bradley leads the melody superbly\r\n in this sultry arrangement. <\/font><\/p>\r\n

Ragtime Nightingale<\/b> by Joseph Lamb, one of the top three Ragtime\r\n composers, opens with Ernie on the Baritone in a more lyrical context before returning to\r\n a more regular rhythmic pulse. Bradley accents it with nightingale-like trills on the\r\n Soprano.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Dill Pickles<\/b> is a superb new arrangement commissioned by the RCSQ\r\n from arranger Jerry Elliott. We met Jerry in Colorado earlier this year at the Evergreen\r\n Ragtime Bash, and fell in love with his clear manuscript work and his enthusiasm for\r\n arranging Ragtime compositions. He transcribes for various instrumentations including\r\n Saxophone Quartet. Dill Pickles is intricate and playful, and we look forward to playing\r\n more arrangements from Jerry.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

St. Louis Blues<\/b> from "the Father of the Blues", W. C.\r\n Handy, is both mournful and invigorating. As Handy described it, it is: "the sound\r\n of a sinner on revival day<\/i>". Everyone gets a solo here--a chance to sing\r\n "the Blues".<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Love Is Here To Stay<\/b> opens our Gershwin set swinging. Following\r\n Ernie’s Baritone solo, the arrangement diverts into a Beguine rhythm treatment of the\r\n melody before returning to swing and a graceful finish.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

In Gershwin's Summertime<\/b>, Tim really "steams" on this\r\n hot, hazy, lazy piece from Porgy and Bess<\/i>.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Gershwin's Three Preludes<\/b> for piano pose quite a challenge for\r\n Saxophone Quartet, both rhythmically and technically (not to mention the tempos). Bradley\r\n uses his "magic" to lead us confidently through Preludes I and III, and shares\r\n the haunting motif with Tim in Prelude II. They are both interrupted momentarily by Ernie\r\n bodaciously bursting in on the Baritone with Peter and Tim "strumming" the\r\n accompaniment.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Saxophonist Larry Sereda's Gershwin Medley<\/b> combines the familiar\r\n tunes of Fascinatin' Rhythm<\/i>, They Can't Take That Away From Me<\/i>, Summertime<\/i>\r\n (this time crooned by Bradley on Alto), and I Got Rhythm<\/i>, by sharing the melodies\r\n and rhythms among all four saxophones.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Al Cobine's rendition of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes<\/b>, is an\r\n absolutely gorgeous ballad, fully exploring the rich harmonious textures and the dynamic\r\n and melodic ranges of the saxophone quartet. The lyrical melody is tenderly crafted by Tim\r\n on Soprano, and then delicately echoed by the rest of us in turn before disappearing in a\r\n puff of smoke.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Ain't Misbehavin' <\/b>is a fun, easily swinging piece aptly arranged\r\n by saxophonist Lennie Niehaus. He is a veteran arranger of everything from saxophone\r\n ensembles to movie scores. Tim gets a chance to wail an improvised solo on our only\r\n arrangement for two Altos.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

And now we come full-circle back to the Ragtime-style. The last three\r\n tracks (Saxema, Valse Llewellyn, <\/b>and Saxophobia<\/b>) comprise Ted Hegvik's Wiedoeft\r\n Suite<\/i>, ingeniously arranged for Saxophone Quartet. Rudy Wiedoeft was a gifted\r\n saxophonist virtuoso who rose to fame in the early part of the 20th<\/sup> century.\r\n His compositions were unmistakably influenced by both Ragtime and the music of his own\r\n European heritage. They provided the perfect vehicle for his fast fingering technique and\r\n articulations on the saxophone. All three tunes are equally as challenging to play on four\r\n saxophones. Hegvik's spirited arrangements weave Wiedoeft's melodies through all four\r\n voices in various patterns, and the lilting Valse Llewellyn spotlights the\r\n naturally-gifted character of Peter's own Tenor Saxophone virtuosity.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Escarpment Sound Studio is a converted stone barn built in the\r\n mid-1800’s just north of Acton, Ontario, owned and operated by Brian Hewson. We are\r\n in the company of many famous Canadian artists who record there because it provides a\r\n warm, comfortable, and relaxed recording experience.
\r\n Microphones used (all condensor mics): AKG535 (Alto and Soprano), AKG414 (Tenor), Neumann\r\n U87 (Baritone).<\/p>\r\n

The Royal City Saxophone Quartet<\/b> was formed in September 1991 in Guelph, Ontario\r\n and made its public debut at College Royal at the University of Guelph in the Spring of\r\n 1992. Although each member is classically trained, within the last several years the\r\n Quartet has discovered a niche in performing Ragtime and early Jazz. The RCSQ performs for\r\n audiences at Ragtime-, Jazz-, and Summer-Music Festivals throughout North America and\r\n beyond. <\/font><\/p>\r\n

On the cover: The RCSQ pauses for a photo at the historic covered bridge\r\n in West Montrose, Ontario, after an afternoon drive in Bradley’s 1938 Buick Special<\/i>.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

\r\n

Ticklin' Time<\/strong><\/em> will soon be\r\n featured on:<\/font><\/p>\r\n