Saxophone and didjeridoo : Collaboration of Traditional, Contemporary & World Music

Website(s) : http://www.glengillis.com / http://www.conn-selmer.com/en-us/artist-information/centerstage/artist-roster/glen-gillis/ / http://artsandscience.usask.ca/profile/GGillis

Biography

This presentation consists two original compositions for alto saxophone and didgeridoo (an ancient Australian Aboriginal musical instrument) by the performance duo of Glen Gillis and James E. Cunningham. The Gillis/Cunningham duo has collaborated on many occasions, including the performance of original compositions at the 2000, 2010, and 2014 North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conferences, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation National Radio (CBC, 2009), and three commercial CDs (didgeridoo.diversions 2007, SaxSpectrum 2009, and SaxSpectrum 2014). Glen Gillis is Professor of Saxophone at the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, SK, Canada) and James E. Cunningham is Professor of Ethnomusicology at Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL, USA).

More information

This proposal consists two original compositions for alto saxophone and didgeridoo (an ancient Australian Aboriginal musical instrument) by the performance duo of Glen Gillis and James E. Cunningham. The first piece, “Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) Live,” is a six-minute programmatic and interactive composition, which integrates and juxtaposes contemporary saxophone techniques (multiphonics, micro-intervals, pitch bending, voicing, altissimo, contemporary articulation techniques, etc.) with acoustic and digitally effected sounds produced by a single didgeridoo. This work is a sequel to “Aurora Australis” (Gillis, 2014), which incorporated contemporary saxophone techniques set against a prerecorded multi-didgeridoo acoustic bed entitled “Orion Nebula” (Cunningham, Dempster, & Pertl, 1997). Please note, the submitted mp3 of “Aurora Australis,” released on SaxSpectrum 2 (MSR Classics Label), will provide a sample of the scope and variety of techniques involved with the live performance of this new composition. The second piece will be the European premier of “Didjaxiblu” (Cunningham & Gillis, 2014). Recently released on SaxSpectrum 2 (recording attached), “Didjaxiblu” is a jazz duet between alto saxophone and a unique multi-pitched plastic “sewerphone” digeridoo in “D and F.” Following traditional jazz form, this three-minute piece incorporates both a composed head melody and improvisational elements with a bass-driven didgeridoo rhythm.