Tubax

 

 

  • "Das Gleichgewicht" by Zollsound 2 (1999 wassermann Jazz Lisa 2001).  Zollsound 2 consists of Bill Elgart on drums, percussion and gong, and Thomas Zoller on bari sax, tubax, bass clarinet, flutes, and "footpedal synth."  "Das Gleichgewicht" is German for "the Equilibrium", and the CD is subtitled "music from the play of the same name by Botho Strauß". All tracks were written by TZ, with the exception of #8 (a perc solo) and #14 (by both).  The music is jazz-oriented, with some free improvization.  The CD is mainly bari sax (with perc), but tubax is used on 5 out of 15 tracks, and is always easy to pick out (and the particular tracks are specifically identified in the liner notes).
  • "20 Jahre Saxuelle Befreiung" by the Kölner Saxophon Mafia (2002, JazzHaus Musik, JHM115).  The KSM is currently a quintet comprising Roger Hanschel, Wollie Kaiser, Steffen Schorn, Joachim Ullrich, and Gerhard Veeck, covering nearly every version of flute (piccolo to bass flute), clarinet (Eb soprano down to BBb contrabass), and saxophone (soprillo down to subcontrabass - aka BBb tubax).  The soprillo is Benedikt Eppelsheim's Bb sopranissimo sax (an octave above the soprano), while the Eb tubax plays in the contrabass sax register, and the Bb tubax is pitched lower, an octave below the bass sax.  The instruments are not identified by track (or by player), but I suspect that the Eb tubax and BBb tubax (what is the plural of tubax anyway?) are both played by Steffen Schorn, who seems to cover most of the low end.  This is a great disc, by one of my favorite groups.  Well worth tracking down (ordering directly from JHM may be easiest, and least expensive).  Energetic, interesting jazz, with a great palette of timbres.  Recommended!

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