“The Prejudices Of History”
Or as I remain pleased with part 1, “Malapert and Erratic part 2″
Over the years I have become increasingly aware of what I do as a musician and the need to at least appear to conform to some ideal whether real or imaginary. This may be an attempt to answer the question: What epitaph will adorn my headstone?
It has been documented that I play the saxophone, and indeed this has been the case for around 30 years. The problem comes with the definition of saxophonist. For me picking up a saxophone, alto initially, was required in an effort to undo the learning that I had acquired over several years of classical guitar playing. The guitar still has the feeling of being someone else’s territory and I could not see myself developing in a manner that would create an approach and style that I could call my own. The uniqueness of a musician’s approach struck me as being important at that time, aged 16.
And so the saxophone was selected as my new instrument: its methods and approach being the antithesis of those of the guitar. Looking at some notes from this period it seems that I believed the ideal piece of music (naturally an improvisation) should aspire to infinite variation in dynamics, timbre and colouration, and rhythm. In later years the need for and development of form (rhythm in a wider sense) has become more important.
So the saxophone is not a guitar. Neither are many other instruments. Am I a saxophonist? Am I a percussionist? Probably neither, I am a collector of sound making devices â the saxophone, in a single instrument, fulfils a number of those early requirements. The other instruments are used to augment the repertoire, adding contrast to the saxophone and expanding the music’s soundscape.
As well as a collector, I am an arranger of sounds and occasional organiser of people. Nothing more.
The pieces were all recorded evening Saturday 7th December 2013”
-Mark Browne (from the sleevenotes available as a PDF with the download.