“Go Within” explores the saxophonist as a total-musician and performer
“Go Within”, saxophonist and ACPA PhD Don-Paul Kahl's debut solo album features the techniques of saxophone playing without mouthpiece.
The album prominently features, specifically in the works commissioned for this album, the techniques of saxophone playing without mouthpiece. "Go Within" contains works by Kenichi Ikuno Sekiguchi, Gregory Wanamaker, Eleni Ralli, Molly Joyce, Stratis Minakakis, and Mischa Zupko.
Saxophone without Mouthpiece
Don-Paul Kahl's research on the extended techniques of saxophone playing as it pertains to saxophone without mouthpiece, has led him to commission and collaborate with bold and eccentric composers who have been willing to take on the full artistic gamut of these radical and unique techniques of playing.
"My album features two such works, commissioned by me specifically for and through this research and also the recording. Eleni Ralli’s piece, named after the title of the album and concept of the project, “Go Within” explores the saxophonist as a total-musician and performer. Featuring complex trumpet sounds, tongue rams, and an extended section of saxo-flute hybridity, the work is a prime example of the artistic potential and worth these extended techniques provide. The other work that uses these techniques on the album is Stratis Minakakis’ “For Felipe M.” This piece for solo baritone saxophone uses air pitch and saxo-flute hybridity in the final movement. This collaboration is quite remarkable as it is the first recorded work for baritone saxophone to include the flute sounds technique - marking a contrast to the popular belief that these techniques were impossible to produce on the baritone."