The saxophonist Colin Stetson returns to Delilah's on Cayuga Wednesday, August 24 for a solo show; Emily Haynes opens. Photo by Angelina Castillo
THE MOST TALKED ABOUT show from last spring was a solo baritone saxophone player named Colin Stetson, who made such a strong impression on Ithaca audiences promoter Dan Smalls decided to bring him back. He’ll return to Delilah’s on Cayuga Wednesday, August 24 for a 9:00 p.m. show; tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, and the quirky multi-instrumentalist Emily Wells opens.
Stetson had been making his mark as a staggering solo performer for several years now, in front of audiences small and large, from intimate jazz and experimental music venues to big stages, and had cut his chops opening for Arcade Fire or The National, or playing at jazz and new music festivals like Moers and London Jazz. His talents have been widely recognized and employed by artists as diverse as Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, TV On The Radio and Bon Iver; he also plays in Bell Orchestre and Sway Machinery.
A horn player of uncommon strength, skill and genre-defying creativity. He composes and performs otherworldly songs that combine a mastery of circular breathing technique with percussive valve-work and reed vocalizations, making a polyphonic solo music that combines influences as diverse as Bach, early metal, American pre-war Gospel, and the explorations of Jimi Hendrix, Peter Brotzman and Albert Ayler. The result is a highly original, experimental, euphoric record that fires on all levels: a document of an astoundingly strong and gifted player; a compositional tour-de-force; and a studio production bursting with intensity and inventiveness.