they/beast
Pat Posey
Avie AV2638 (avie-records.com)
The Belgian inventor and musician Adolphe Sax is responsible for the saxophone being one of the few instruments to have a clear patent date (June 28,1846). He built different sizes of saxophones but the most familiar are the soprano, alto, tenor and baritone models. The bass saxophone is much rarer and, although the contrabass exists, its size and structure made it almost unplayable. The Tubax is a new version of the contrabass created by the German instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim in 1999 and is smaller with a much better fingering mechanism.
Pat Posey’s solo album they/beast displays the Tubax›s incredible sound with a wide variety of materials, from Bach cello suites to Philip Glass› Melodies for Saxophone. If listening to Paul Desmond’s alto sax is like sipping a fine white wine, Posey’s Tubax is like drinking a delicious porter. Its lows are glorious and Posey dexterously wrestles ithrough some very complex material. they/beast is a unique and sonically adventurous treat.
