Prism Moves Saxophone to the Center of Classical, Jazz Styles

Of the numerous saxophone quartets that have popped up in the last several years, which best compares to Prism, the foursome that appears Monday at the Laguna Art Museum? How about the jazz-minded World Saxophone Quartet or 29th Street Saxophone Quartet? Or maybe the avant garde-styled ROVA Quartet?

Saxophonist and composer Matthew Levy suggests looking elsewhere to find a similar wide-angle view to the one Prism embraces. Formed at the University of Michigan in 1984 by Levy, Reginald Borik, Michael Whitcombe and Timothy Miller, Prism’s approach may more closely resemble the groundbreaking Kronos string quartet than any of the above-mentioned saxophone foursomes.

“It’s strange,” Levy said earlier this week by phone during a break at the New Sounds Music Festival at the University of Redlands. “What stronger classical background could you have than with (the members of) Kronos? Now they’ve gone toward the center between classical and jazz. That’s what we’re doing: moving the saxophone toward the center, getting to the same place from a different perspective.

“We’ve tried to carve our own niche. It’s important to build a big repertoire and draw on as many classical composers as we can. But we also need music on the cutting edge, music that borrows from a variety of styles.”

Proof of that stylistic variety can be found on the quartet’s 1990 “Prism” album. The group transcends time and category with performances that range from Jean Baptiste Singelee’s “Premier Quatour” from 1857--considered the first quartet written for the instrument that was patented by inventor Adolphe Sax just 10 years earlier--to jazzman Phil Wood’s 1978 piece “Three Improvisations for Saxophone Quartet” and Levy’s own, decidedly contemporary compositions “Tenor Indigo” and “Lament.”

“We’re different because we introduce new and crossover music to audiences who don’t normally hear it,” Levy continued, referring to upcoming chamber series performances the group will give at New York’s Lincoln Center.

“That’s how we came up with the name. A prism refracts light into different colors, different shades. We use the saxophone in a similar way, to refract music into its different styles. Although we try to play a lot of modern music, we make a real effort to work with a variety of composers who are challenging as well as very accessible, to strike a chord with the audience and their experiences.”

That presentation philosophy will be underscored during the Laguna Beach concert when the four give the Orange County premiere of composer Michael Ruszczynski’s “Fantasy Quartet” (the world premiere will be at the group’s performance Sunday in Pasadena). “It’s a phenomenal piece,” Levy said, “a substantial quartet of some 25 minutes and one of the most beautiful things in our repertoire.”

Ruszczynski, the 28-year-old composer who is on the faculty at Ohio State University, has worked closely with the quartet and will be in the audience Monday.

“It’s always great to have the composer coach us,” Levy said. “They have an ideal performance in mind, but whether we can meet that expectation is hard to tell. Sometimes things go in a different direction.”

In addition, Prism will perform Pierre Max DuBois’ 1956 “Quatour Pour Saxophones” (a classically oriented piece, Levy said, “with the kind of lush French harmonies we all know and love”) as well as a Bach transcription and Levy’s own “Lament,” a tribute to his late father, the painter Julian Levy.

Prism has further expanded its range in the last few years by experimenting with electronic wind instruments. These devices are played with the same fingering and breath control of traditional wind instruments, but are electronically capable of producing an almost infinite number of synthesized sounds.

“As soon as they were available, we got them,” Levy said of the new technology. “The idea was so intriguing, to do electronic chamber music, to have a palette full of colors, like a painter.”

The group will demonstrate the instruments on Levy’s “Cakewalk,” in which the group’s members use the electronic devices to sound like anything but saxophones. “It’s unsettling to see four guys playing these things that look like recorders,” he said, “and out comes rock music.”

The quartet blends the sounds of the wind controllers and their saxophones on a piece by Los Angeles composer and performance artist Bradford Ellis entitled “Tooka-ood Zasch.” The work “uses all sorts of prerecorded percussion and moves between different styles and textures, from funk to African and Indian rhythms, a whole evolution of styles,” said Levy.

All four members alternate between saxophone and wind controller during the piece, creating a variety of combinations and tonal blends.

“The electric stuff makes for a nice contrast,” said Levy, noting that three pieces during the concert’s second half feature the wind controllers. “The sound of any instrument, with the possible exception of the violin, can become ingrained during a performance, and the different palette of colors and sounds provides a nice relief.”

The Prism Quartet plays Monday at 8 p.m. at the Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. $10, general; $5, students and senior citizens. (714) 494-8971.