Saxophone virtuoso John Sampen and sound engineer and composer Mark Bunce, both of the Bowling Green
State University College of Musical Arts, have gone the distance in their two decades of performing as
a duo.
Their current program is titled "Two Worlds" and that doesn’t capture the reach of their work.
The duo has just released "Electric Saxophone II," a follow up to their 1997 recording
"Electric Saxophone." Both are released on Bunce’s own AMP label. Bunce served as recording
engineer for both recordings
Sampen and Bunce had begun touring several years before that first recording.
Sampen had been performing extensively with his wife Marilyn Shrude, a pianist and composer. But when
their two children were small, it was impossible for them both to be away at the same time.
"I love traveling and so does Mark," Sampen said, so they plugged in as a duo with Bunce
managing a range of electronics to support Sampen’s saxophone.
In performance they add multimedia elements. The pieces, though, they say all hold up without the visual
stimulation. From the beginning, they sought to arrange programs that had some kind of underlying
theme. In "Two Worlds" the pieces often contain contrasting elements.
That attention to the coherence and flow of a program holds true on "Electric Saxophone II."
They range from one of the pioneering works for saxophone and electronics, Steve Reich’s "Reed
Phase" from 1966 to a piece composed for Sampen in 2011, James Mobberley’s "Once Again Into
the Light."
The CD includes Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu’s "Distance" as well as two pieces, one from
close to home Bunce’s "Schrodinger’s Cat" and one from home, "Trope" by Shrude.
Rounding out the set is Russell Pinkston’s "InsideOutside."
All feature Sampen’s saxophone in the middle of swirling, evocative electronic landscapes.
Bunce’s own contribution "Schrodinger’s Cat" evokes philosophical tale of a cat in a cage who
may or may not be dead, It also taps into his deep interest in quantum physics and the earliest moments
of the creation of the universe.
To accompany Sampen, he used bits and pieces saxophonist sound to fashion a backdrop that evokes the
cosmos, all brought together with a throbbing pulse.
Maybe the most elaborate work came on "Distance." The piece calls for an optional part for sho,
a Japanese mouth organ, not dissimilar in sound to a harmonica.
To create the part which the saxophone interacts with, Bunce recorded a sho player sounding each note
that’s used in the score. He asked the musician to play each note as long as he could. Bunce then
recombined them into the patterns used in the score. "It was quite involved."
"I don’t know too many engineers who could have done that," said Sampen.
The sound of sho haunts Sampen’s lines.
The specter of other saxophones inhabits "Trope," a piece that Sampen performed in the lobby
of the Wolfe Center during the Arts Extravaganza last December.
For that performance the saxophones lined the balcony above where he performed. For the CD the saxophones
were recorded by Sampen and former students James Fusik and Jeff Heisler.
"Trope" was originally composed for a project "Voices of Dissent," a multimedia
presentation presented at BGSU.
Deep within the composition’s haunting layers is the tune of "We Shall Overcome."
The spirit of composer Mobberley’s late son floats through "Once Again To The Light." The son
Cameron died of a rare form of leukemia at 6, and the title comes from a eulogy written for him.
The piece has a suitably elegiac feel with Sampen intoning long lines against the spacious reverberations
of the electronics.
"InsideOutside" calls on Sampen to use all the resources of the saxophone, snapping keys,
fluttering tones, keening high notes that blend into the kaleidoscopic percussive electronics.
Reich’s "Reed Phase" is a classic of the minimalist school. The saxophonist performing live
repeats a short prase against two shifting recorded voices. Though the melodic material is minimal, the
piece is ever changing in subtle ways as the voices pull apart and resolve together.
