The New York Post

March 26, 1993

Saxophone Quartet as Fit as a Fiddle

by Shirley Fleming

The New Century Saxophone Quartet, first-prize winner in the 1992 Concert Artists Guild New York Competition, made its debut at Weill Recital Hall on Tuesday, in a virtuosic display of dexterity and keen ensemble work.

Soprano saxophonist Michael Stephenson, alto James Boatman, tenor Stephen Pollock and baritone Brad Hubbard, all products of the North Carolina School of Arts, have dedicated themselves to proving their instruments’ mettle as a serious concert vehicle. While the pre-eminence of the string quartet remains unthreatened by this effort, the New Century puts its argument forcefully enough.

In a varied program ranging from a Fantasia, by the 17th-century organist Jan Pieters Sweelinck, and a set of Mozart variations (drawn from the piano original) to the premiere of a brand-new Sinfonia by Sherwood Shaffer of the North Carolina School, the quartet demonstrated both the liquid sinuosity and the pointillistic snap of the saxophone.

Shaffer’s three-movement work sent the instruments cheerfully bubbling and looping, sometimes tumbling uphill with Poulenc-like cheekiness. A “Petit quatuor” (1935) by the Frenchman Jean Françaix displayed a delicate bounce and transparent texture in the first movement (the quietest episode in a generally “forte” evening) and a presently pensive quality in the second, during which the soprano instrument remained silent. “Drastic Measures,” (1976) by Russell Peck, careened recklessly but happily among what seemed like dozens of ideas, culminating in something very close to jazz.

The players handled it all with panache, and topped off the concert with a ragtime encore that fit them like a glove.