Heavenly saxophone in concert

This reviewer can't forget Maestro Isaiah Jackson's marvelous interpretation of the Berlioz Symphony Fantastique.
By ROBERT ROLLIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis will be the guest soloist Saturday for the Youngstown Symphony's second Masterworks Concert called "The Best of Paris." The show is at 8 p.m. at Powers Auditorium.
Marsalis will be featured on two neoclassical French pieces: "La Creation du Monde" (1923) by Darius Milhaud and "Concertino da camera" (1935) by Jacques Ibert.
Both are in the tradition of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" (1918), wherein the post World War I economic difficulties necessitated employing smaller mixed ensembles.
"La Creation du Monde" was written the year before Gershwin's famous "Rhapsody in Blue," after Milhaud toured the United States and spent many hours in Harlem listening to the black jazz groups there.
This wonderful ballet score in four continous sections has a charm and transparency that shows both originality and assimilation of the then-new American idiom. The scenario even includes three giant African deities beginning creation.
Similarity with some Gershwin melodic phrases shows that both pieces had contemporaneous black American jazz roots.
Chance to dazzle
The shorter "Concerto da camera" for mixed ensemble of 11 instruments is a virtuoso display piece for alto saxophone soloist that will afford Marsalis the opportunity to dazzle the audience.
Even though the first movement syncopations and glissandi, and the second movement bluesy slow intro are somewhat less clearly jazzlike, the piece's exuberance will still captivate the Youngstown audience.
The familiar melodies and fine orchestration of the Bizet Carmen Suite also will be a delight, and will be a good contrast to the powerful and serious Franck D Minor Symphony.
Maestro Isaiah Jackson has shown himself to be at home with French music literature. His marvelous interpretation of the Berlioz Symphony Fantastique some years ago refuses to fade from memory.
Pairing Marsalis and Jackson should produce an exceptional evening.
Biography
Marsalis, uniquely talented artist who excels at both jazz and classical music, was born into a family of gifted Louisiana musicians. He started his professional education in the late 1970s at Southern University, Baton Rouge, and soon moved to Boston's Berklee College.
While still at Berklee, he played baritone sax with the Art Blakey big band on their summer European tour and played tenor with the Lionel Hampton orchestra. After graduation, he moved to New York to join the Clark Terry Band full time.
By the mid-1980s he got his own recording contract with Columbia.
His 1986 "Royal Garden Blues" was an excellent jazz combo product that included an original piece, "The Wrath of Tain." In the same year he released the "Romances for Saxophone" album with the English Chamber Orchestra, displaying his lyric gift for French and Russian classical literature. His expressive playing of Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 (arranged by Michel Colombier) was stunning.
Marsalis' 1989 release, "Trio Jeepy," with legendary bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Tain, was a major accomplishment, incorporating post-bebop influences and delivering a remarkable freshness.