4.1 The Avant-Pop of Colin Stetson
Colin Stetson is a widely known, highly successful saxophonist, having released nine albums as soloist or band leader and nine full-length film soundtracks (as of April 2022).1 Despite his success, little has been written about Stetson outside of brief interviews in popular sources. I first became aware of Stetson’s work in 2011 when his breakout album New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judgesx made the Polaris Music Prize shortlist.2 Stetson’s approach on the title track, Judges, is indicative of his work since then, whether solo, in ensembles, or on film scores. I will use Vol. 2 to refer to the album to avoid confusion between the two.
Stetson’s practice is easily identifiable through his use of large instruments, overtone playing, circular-breathing, and a noisy aesthetic. On Judges Stetson performs on a Bb bass saxophone, which sounds an octave below the Bb tenor saxophone. Its large keys, combined with the distance they travel, make the mechanical operation of the instrument much more percussive sounding than smaller saxophones. Like any large wind instrument, the bass saxophone gives easy access to upper partials in the harmonic series, making overtone playing relatively straightforward. Through air and embouchure manipulation, this technique allows players to access multiphonics (sounding multiple notes at once), as well as notes much higher than conventional fingerings typically produce. The ease to which overtones can be achieved on the bass saxophone allows Stetson to bring out many higher partials of the figures he is playing, sometimes sweeping fully into the upper notes of the harmonic series.
Circular breathing is a technique whereby breath is taken in through the nose while simultaneously being pushed into a wind instrument by way of the cheek muscles. Without needing to rest for conventional breaths when circular breathing, Stetson may play for long periods without stopping sound production, leaving no silence in Judges. Stetson does not use this technique to play long lyrical melodies, but instead uses it to fuel continuous arpeggiations and ostinati. Pitch bends and harmonic “chirps” resulting from embouchure changes while circular breathing can be heard throughout the piece.3 Rather than attempt to execute the described techniques cleanly, Stetson embraces the entirety of sounds created by the saxophone’s key percussion, his overtone playing, and circular breathing, to create a noisy musical aesthetic.
These techniques, however, are not solely the domain of Stetson – they have been used in jazz and contemporary classical music many years before him. Rather, Stetson’s contributions come from his use of the microphonic process and combining these techniques with popular song structure. Using a series of conventional and contact microphones around and on the body of his instrument, he amplifies the percussive sound of his saxophone’s keys to a level where it becomes primary musical material. Similarly, he uses a throat microphone,4 to amplify vocalizations that he produces simultaneously while playing. The range of the bass saxophone is below most voices, allowing Stetson to hum or yell while playing with minimal interference.5 Amplified vocalizations provide the lyrical melodies in Judges and the amplified mechanical sounds of the saxophone keys provides a percussive layer that would otherwise go unheard. What further distinguishes Stetson’s work is that his virtuosic solo approach is structured within popular musical forms and phrasing. Judges is in a simple ABA form with four bar phrases where the primary melodic and harmonic content is repeating pentatonic figures and diatonic vocal melodies. Stetson summarizes his approach, “I’m playing solo saxophone with extended technique that, until now, has mainly been used in free jazz and improv. I’m using it in song form with rhythmic, repetitive and melodic music that’s more akin to rock, classical and electronic.”6
Much like the way Bing Crosby used the microphonic process to bring the warm, conversational tone of his singing to audiences, Stetson uses it to illuminate the intimate soundscape of the saxophone. Unlike Crosby, however, Stetson is not portraying a relatable aural image but creates a kaleidoscopic perspective normally only available to saxophonists themselves through their close contact with the instrument. Stetson relates this process to miking a drum set: “you can throw one overhead mic on it and get great recordings from that. However, you’re going to get a very specific picture of the drum kit. Certain things won’t be heard as well as other things. What I’m doing is the equivalent of putting a close mic on every drum, plus also miking things like the squeak of the bass drum pedal.”7 The vivid but unfamiliar portrayal of the saxophone that Stetson creates bears some resemblance to the psychedelic expansion of the electric guitar that Jimi Hendrix cultivated (see section 3.3). It should come as no surprise that Stetson grew up listening to the “futuristic and primal”8 sounds of the guitar master,9 as both artists combine the microphonic process with virtuosic and extended techniques to expand their instrument’s performance practice. Stetson also shares his penchant for noise with Stockhausen, who loved the “glorious” scratching his step-filters made when they were pushed beyond their intended design (see section 3.1). Perhaps to assure listeners unfamiliar with such an approach to noise, Vol. 2’s liner notes state, “ALL NOISE AND DISTORTION ON THIS RECORDING IS INTENTIONAL[sic]”.10
Unlike Stockhausen and Davies, who created microphonic pieces, Stetson follows in the footsteps of Crosby and Hendrix by creating a microphonic practice within popular forms. According to Christopher Herald, this places Stetson in the “post avant-garde” saxophone style, along with its pioneer, British free jazz saxophonist Evan Parker.11 Stetson’s and Parker’s music share some similarities regarding extended saxophone techniques and circular breathing, but Herald does not address how drastically pop forms and his use of microphones differentiates Stetson from his contemporaries. Using the microphonic process, Stetson transforms relatively simple melodic and harmonic language into dense, polyrhythmic and polyphonic solo works that evoke a heavy metal band more than they do his free jazz saxophone forebears. Moreover, Stetson’s unique approach has not just innovated within established genres, it instead has created a unique style of saxophone playing in what could be considered a new genre of instrumental avant-pop.