Minterview: Saxophonist Tim McAllister

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[Minterview = mini-interview]

Saxophonist Tim McAllister is as comfortable in a jazz club as he is on the concert stage.  Praised by the New York Times as “one of the foremost saxophonists of his generation,” Mr. McAlister has appeared with symphony orchestras around the world as well as with big bands, regional music theater ensembles, and studio orchestra touring productions.  He has also performed with big jazz names like saxophonists Jimmy Heath, Rick Margitza, and Dave Liebman as well as with trumpeter Ed Sarath.  He's in town this week to perform and record John Adams's "Saxophone Concerto" with the St. Louis Symphony for a Nonesuch CD that will include the performance of Adams's "City Noir" that he recorded in concert with the symphony last season.  I threw him a few questions about his career and the music he's performing this weekend.

Photo: Ernie Tacsik

Q: Saxophone soloists don't have anything like the high public profile of soloists on other instruments, at least in the classical world.  What made you decide to pursue that career path?

A: You’re correct that the saxophone has something of a “low profile” in the classical world.  When you think about orchestral soloists, it’s an elite society; many of the same major figures on violin, cello, and piano.  One might think, therefore, that the role of classical saxophone is limited, but, in fact, the saxophone in classical music is quite rich and deep. It just exists more in the realm of niche chamber music and solo recital literature.
Major universities like mine, Northwestern, and its counterparts (Indiana, University of Michigan, Eastman, among many others) all have thriving saxophone programs devoted to classical instruction and literature. This doesn't even take into account the countless conservatories worldwide that offer classical saxophone, and the professional organizations committed to further its cause, such as the North American Saxophone Alliance and the World Saxophone Congress.

For those of us that choose to pursue this path, the number of iconic (classical) figures in the last 150 years rivals that of other instruments, as well as the obvious luminaries in jazz. However, it is largely an 'academic' path that has thrived at the university level, yet has made major strides in breaking into the larger classical community over the years. My mentors were part of this movement to bring the instrument more into the concert hall, as their mentors were before them, and I feel like it is part of my mission to continue this track.
Of course, the instrumentation of the modern symphony orchestra has been set for a long time, but skilled freelance players are still necessary to fill the parts that we see come about each season in orchestras all over the country by Bartok, Bernstein, Berg, Bizet, Britten, Ravel, Gershwin, Prokofiev, Vaughan-Williams, among hundreds of other composers to choose from that included saxophone in their orchestrations. To have even the slightest chance to be among the privileged few who get the chance to play these parts, in addition to the possibility of a solo career devoted to promoting new works by living composers alongside work with an active saxophone quartet, was worth all the effort and hard work over the years; because, ultimately, even though I was attracted to the the instrument because of its huge presence in popular culture and my early love of jazz, it was classical art music fused with the voice of the saxophone that spoke to me the most.

Q: You performed in the world premieres John Adams's "City Noir" as well as his "Saxophone Concerto".  What appeals to you about his music? 

A: I have always adored John's music. I heard the premiere of his famous opera "Nixon in China" almost 30 years ago with my private teacher at the time playing in the saxophone section. I was riveted, puzzled, surprised, and inspired all at once. All I had known to that point was school concert band music, jazz and the 80's fusion/R&B movement, rock, some orchestral music and the handful of appropriate level saxophone solos I might be assigned for lessons from week to week. "Nixon" was huge, a spectacle. It really didn't even dawn on me that this was 'classical' music. It seemed bigger than that label. I went on to be curious about this sphere of music that existed beyond what popular culture understood orchestra and opera music was supposed to be: music by dead, European men. I think from then on, and certainly once in college, I realized 'contemporary' classical music might have a place for me.

John became the “Number One” composer on my list whom I dreamed someday would write a major work for saxophone. It seemed like a 'no-brainer' given the grandeur, rhythmic drive, and indelible link to vernacular styles in his post-minimal works. Since Philip Glass and Terry Riley had such an affinity for saxophone, it just seemed logical that Adams might be next.  However, apart from the saxophone quartet parts in John's "Nixon" and "Fearful Symmetries," the saxophone wasn't really there in his music until "City Noir" came along in 2009. "City Noir" changed everything. It was (is!) demanding, difficult, taxing, you name it. But, it's exhilarating, and, as Gustavo Dudamel once said in an NPR interview, the piece "is about the saxophone."

Photo: rrjones

Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges in playing these works?

A: "Noir," like the new "Concerto," creates enormous challenges for the player to spin seemingly endless passages of intervallic writing, sometimes, at peak volume to project over large orchestral textures, while displaying a precision of rhythm that is almost unattainable. The virtuosity demanded of the player centers around total control sustained over long spans of music, even requiring circular breathing in places. The concentration required can be exhausting.

Q: How do you think that experience of playing in both the classical and pop/jazz worlds informs your playing of Adam's music?

A: Well, one must have a deep color palette to choose from when playing these Adams works. The music in the "Concerto" is not jazz nor is it typical classical writing for the instrument, but characteristics of both must pervade the player's approach at all times. In the end, it's all still John Adams  -- that is foremost in my mind. To distract from that fact might create a caricature of the music he is emulating. One critic recently lauded the "Concerto" as a work that does more to "evoke rather than reproduce" jazz music, quite possibly in the seamless way in which one might view Gershwin's or Bernstein's music, so the saxophone has to be such a chameleon, something it does so well. Although I have always loved and studied jazz, I don't consider myself a jazz artist by any means, but I wouldn't be comfortable calling myself a saxophonist, either, if I didn't recognize and incorporate jazz concepts, history and pedagogy into my overall musical awareness. I think this is what John perceived in my Los Angeles performances of "City Noir" [recorded for the DG Concerts label], and he felt he had that broad palette to work with in me when it came time to consider the new Concerto.

I have to say if I hadn't loved jazz first, I wouldn’t be the classical player I am today.