Gregory Wanamaker

composer

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Glint features Timothy McAllister’s definitive recording of my Duo Sonata with Robert Spring. See more in my discography. »

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“Wanamaker’s Sonata deus sax machina’s two fast, strongly accented outer movements frame a mysterious, “chaconne-informed second”: influenced by the form it may be, but its language and texture are indubitably modern. By distributing motives and themes throughout his piece, Wanamaker skillfully ties the three subordinate movements into a longer, unified whole.”

“Wanamaker’s Duo Sonata features sinuously intertwined saxophone and clarinet (first movement), a mournful but never despondent elegy, a brief scherzo with Minimalist tendencies, and a lively, bluesy finish.”

Robert Schulslaper, Fanfare Magazine

34:2 Nov/Dec 2010


“Gregory Wanamaker’s Duo Sonata was, for me, another high point. This is another amazing piece for clarinet and saxophone and another attention getting performance by Spring and McAllister. The Wanamaker exists in four movements, each of which explores the range, color and expressive qualities of the clarinet and saxophone separately and almost as one unified timbre. The Elegy (second movement) is a very poignant departure in tone from almost everything else on this album, having been written in response to the 9/11 tragedy. A very compelling work.”

Daniel Coombs, Audiophile Audition

October 1, 2010


“Mr. Wanamaker’s Duo Sonata... is heavily rooted in repeated rhythms and melodic figures, ...though this piece quickly departs to explore beautiful two-part counterpoint and - ultimately - the blues.”

Garrett Schumann, Sequenza21

December 20, 2010

“Duo Sonata for sax and, its brother, the clarinet (Robert Spring) is by Gregory Wanamaker. The two instruments are Icarus twins. They fill in each others notes, fly in aerobatic formation, encourage contemplation and indulge in jazz-jamming and minimalist caprice in the Blues finale.”

Rob Barnett, MusicWeb-International

September 10, 2010


“...Wanamaker’s Metallicellissimo comes out of the energy and virtuosity of heavy metal guitar solos. It makes fearsome demands of its soloist, challenges that only seem to inspire Wexler.”

Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine

June 11, 2009


“Gregory Wanamaker’s Sonata deus sax machina combines traditional jazz flavors with contemporary tonality and extended effects - multiphonics, smack-tonguing, note bending - in a technical tour de force.”

“Wanamaker has declared this performance of his Duo Sonata with McAllister and Arizona State University colleague Robert Spring to be “definitive,” and so it may prove, as it is hard to imagine the touching Elegy played with more sympathy, or the blues of the final movement with greater abandon.”

Ronald E. Grames, Fanfare Magazine

34:2 Nov/Dec 2010


“An impressive and rewarding unaccompanied work”

Philip Sinder referring to TubaSuite in Guide to the Tuba Repertoire: The New Tuba Source Book ©2006 Indiana University Press.


“...cutting edge music by Gregory Wanamaker.”

The Tallahassee Democrat, 22 September 2003


“I have known Greg since 1997. We were part of a wonderfully talented class of faculty hired at the Crane School in upstate New York that fall. There were about 10 of us! Different economy then. Our offices were near each other and we immediately struck up a friendship. At the time, Greg and I were regularly mistaken for one another in the faculty lounge, due to our similar appearance. He introduced me to a terrific chamber work he composed while a graduate student at Florida State that included saxophone, and I felt he would write a great stand-alone solo work. After much discussion, the result was his deus sax machina. He took a lot of time to learn about how I played and what techniques I embraced on the instrument, so the sonata covers a lot of material and vast sonic palette: from slap-tonguing, to circular breathing, to multiphonics. I premiered the work at the 2000 World Saxophone Congress in Montreal, and the piece was quickly embraced by the saxophone community. This led to many more collaborations with Greg, including the Duo Sonata on Glint, as well as a work for voice and alto saxophone, Four Vocalises, a small concertante for alto saxophone and chamber orchestra, still life is life still..., and a few other pieces. Since then he has written a couple of outstanding saxophone quartets and works for guitar and saxophone. The Duo Sonata was initially written for me and fellow Crane colleague Alan Woy. We played it many times, and, later, I began exploring the work with other clarinet colleagues throughout the country. When I landed the job at Arizona State University, it became the first work Robert Spring and I explored together before commissioning Etezady’s Glint. Now that Greg’s Duo Sonata has had close to probably 100 performances by many duos over the last eight years, it might be said that the piece is the cornerstone work for such a combination. In my opinion, Greg will be remembered as a very important contributor to our repertoire someday, and I’m proud to be his friend and one of his champions.”

Timothy McAllister, Sax on the Run, Fanfare Magazine

34:2 Nov/Dec 2010