RECORDINGS
Featured
XAS 113
Released August 2021
PRISM Quartet
Ravi Coltrane
Joe Lovano
Chris Potter
Heritage/Evolution, Vol. 2 is a celebration of the saxophone. The intrepid PRISM Quartet joins sax icons Ravi Coltrane, Joe Lovano, and Chris Potter to explore their instrument’s dual lineages in classical music and jazz. “But that’s just a starting point,” writes WNYC’s John Schaefer. “The works presented here reconcile two apparently divergent traditions, from totally notated scores at one end to completely free improvisation at the other, and a dizzying array of possibilities in between.”
The recently formed Grossman Ensemble, founded by composer and director Augusta Read Thomas, is a supergroup of 13 Chicago-based contemporary music specialists, exclusively performing new works from leading and emerging composers. This debut recording features new works by Shulamit Ran’, Anthony Cheung, ’s Double Allegories, David Dzubay, Tonia Ko, and David Clay Mettens.
XAS 110
Release Date: August 2020
Music by David Serkin Ludwig (b. 1974), Poetry by Katie Ford (b. 1975)
Hyunah Yu (soprano); PRISM Quartet; Piffaro, The Renaissance Band
Soprano Hyunah Yu, the PRISM Quartet, and Piffaro, The Renaissance Band present a one-woman monodrama by composer David Serkin Ludwig and poet Katie Ford that explores struggles with faith, alienation, gender, and social power through the imagined person of an anchoress, a medieval mystic who spent her life confined to a cell attached to a church.
XAS 107
Released December 2019
Night Music (2014) by Emma O’Halloran (b. 1985)
Red Pine (2014) by Kristin Kuster (b. 1973)
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral (2004) by Steven Mackey (b. 1956)
Vamp (2016) by Anna Weesner (b. 1965)
Cha (2015) by Julia Wolfe (b. 1958)
XAS 108
Released April 2020
Prized Possessions (2014) by Viet Cuong (b. 1990)
Surfaces and Essences (2017) by Christopher Biggs (b. 1979)
Motion Lines (2016) by Joseph Sowa (b. 1984)
heteronym/ (2016) by Emily Koh (b. 1986)
Tell: Quartet (2016) by Victoria Cheah (b. 1988)
Naxos Records
Released in 2013.
St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra
Vladimir Lande, conductor
Summit Recordings #613
featuring the world premiere recording of Ellen Taffe Zwilich's Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet
Taimur Sullivan, alto saxophone
Jasmine Lin, violin
Joseph Genualdi, violin
Rami Solomonow, viola
Clancy Newman, cello
Innova #906
Released 2015
The PRISM Quartet celebrates its 30th anniversary with a groundbreaking recording: Heritage/Evolution, Volume 1. The 2 CD set features world premiere recordings of new works composed by six saxophonists who defy convention, and all of whom join PRISM on this recording: Miguel Zenón, Steve Lehman, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Tim Ries, Dave Liebman and Greg Osby.
XAS 106
The Book of Days (2015) by Uri Caine (b. 1956)
“Although I have played with and composed for saxophonists for years, The Book of Days is my first work for saxophone quartet. I jumped at the chance to collaborate with the flexible virtuosos of the PRISM Quartet. The Book of Days consists of seven movements, one for each day of the week. Each movement has its own musical character. Some of the music is loud and dissonant; some is quiet and still. Some movements are jazzy and frantic; others are more contemplative. There is a continuous dialogue between the piano, which is partly composed and partly improvised, and the saxophone quartet.” —Uri Caine, pianist and composer of The Book of Days.
XAS 105
Ba Yin (The Eight Sounds) (2001/2015) by Chen Yi (b. 1953)
PRISM Quartet
Conservatory Wind Symphony, University of Missouri—Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, conducted by Steven D. Davis
Innova 890
Release Date: May 27, 2014
PRISM turns to the eclectic and inventive compositions of their founder and resident composer Matthew Levy. Expanding on the saxophone quartet format, the two-disc People’s Emergency Center features a number of today’s leading jazz artists including Rudresh Mahanthappa, Jason Moran, Ben Monder, Jay Anderson, Bill Stewart, François Zayas, and former PRISM member Tim Ries.
Guest Artists: Tim Ries, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Jason Moran, Ben Monder, Jay Anderson, Bill Stewart, Francois Zayas, and Richard Belcastro
Innova 693
The PRISM Quartet celebrates Dutch "avant pop" composer JacobTV (a.k.a. Jacob Ter Veldhuis) on this acclaimed Innova disc. Scored for saxophone and ghettoblaster, the music on "Pitch Black" features spoken word by jazz icons Billie Holiday and Chet Baker, death row inmates, and religious fanatics in Times Square.
Pitch Black (1998)
Billie (2003)
Postnuclear Winterscenario No.10 (1991/2001)
Grab It! (1999)
The Garden Of Love (2001)
Jesus Is Coming (2003)
Innova 731
Release Date: March 06, 2009
The PRISM Quartet joins forces with Maestro Gil Rose and the ever-adventurous Boston Modern Orchestra Project in a recording of concertos for saxophone quartet by William Bolcom and Steven Mackey, composers whose concert music draws collectively from rock, jazz, blues, ragtime, folk music, and more.
XAS Records 101
Music for Saxophones from the Curtis Institute by Jennifer Higdon, David Ludwig, Kat Souponetsky, Daniel Temkin, Gabriella Smith, Thomas Oltarzewski, and Tim Woos.
Albany Records TROY1184
Release Date: March 30, 2010
Every Thing Must Go features music by the distinguished American composer Martin Bresnick, and honors artists whose works are going or have gone. PRISM Quartet is featured on the title track.
Guest Artists:
Martin Bresnick, composer; Willie's Way; Lisa Moore, piano; Abigail Nims, mezzo-soprano; Wei-yi Yang, piano; Ashley Bathgate, cello, Lisa Moore, cello; Yale Camerata, Marguerite Brooks, conductor; Prism Saxophone Quartet
Innova 700
Taimur Sullivan: soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone
Oren Fader: electric guitar
Matthew Gold: percussion, marimba, drums
Yvonne Troxler: piano
Louis Andriessen: Hout (1991)
Yvonne Troxler: Kaleidoskop (2005)
Peter Herbert: Deafening Silence (2005)
Elizabeth Hoffman: Holonyms (2005)
Wolfgang Heiniger: In Four (1995)
Naxos Classical/8.669022-24
Release Date: October 01, 2009
PRISM Quartet was specifically requested as the orchestral saxophone section for this production. Marin Alsop directs this live recording of Opera Colorado’s 25th Anniversary Celebration production of Nixon in China, presented at Denver’s new Ellie Caulkins Opera House during the 2008 National Performing Arts Convention.
Innova 767
Release Date: March 30, 2010
In Antiphony, PRISM collaborates with Music from China – a New York-based, world-class ensemble of adventurous virtuosos on traditional Chinese instruments (think Erhu, Pipa, bendy strings and fighting percussion). Music by Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Tan Dun, Wang Guowei, Lei Liang, and Ming-Hsiu Yen.
Innova 885
Release Date: March 25, 2014
PRISM's second partnership with Music from China presents works by four Chinese-born American composers: Bright Sheng, Lei Liang, Fang Man, and Huang Ruo.
New Dynamic Records
Release Date: January 01, 2010
Breath Beneath features new quartet dedicated to PRISM:
Roshanne Etezady - Keen
Zack Browning - Funk Assault
Kati Agocs - Coloratura
Ross Feller - Nomadology
Kristin Kuster - Breath Beneath
Rand Steiger - Maxine
New World Records #80635-2
Featuring Taimur Sullivan's recording of Tent of Miracles for 4 overdubbed baritone saxophones.
Tzadik Recordings #8074
Scott Johnson is a pioneering voice in the relationship being forged between the classical tradition and popular culture, and his infusion of the amplified sounds of rock into traditionally scored compositions is an approach that is rapidly spreading among today’s young composers. Drawing upon a decade of rarely heard music, Americans is yet another masterpiece by this exciting musical maverick.
with:
Kermit Driscoll: Electric Bass
Scott Johnson: Electric Guitar
Michael Lowenstern: Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Mary Rowell: Viola
Greg Chudzik: Double Bass, Electric Bass
David Cossin: Marimba, Percussion
Mark Dancigers: Electric Guitar
John Ferrari: Drums
Stephen Gosling: Piano
Derek Johnson: Electric Guitar
Liviu Onchoi: Sampled Voice
Taimur Sullivan: Soprano Sax, Tenor Sax
Ken Thomson: Clarinet
Shekaiba Wakili: Sampled Voice
Alex Waterman: Cello
Janet Xiong: Sampled Voice
Mode Records #179
Compact disc and DVD of music by Earle Brown, including December 1952 (1952), Four Systems (1954), New Piece (1971, world premiere recording).
With Ariana Kim, Brian McWhorter, Chris McIntyre, Cornelius Dufallo, Joan La Barbara, Kenji Bunch, Miguel Frasconi, Stephen Gosling, Taimur Sullivan, Yves Dharamraj.
Mode Records #137
Jason Eckardt's debut CD features his Tangled Loops for soprano saxophone and piano.
Taimur Sullivan, soprano saxophone
Marilyn Nonken, piano.
Innova 800
Release Date: May 31, 2011
DEDICATION features music composed in celebration of the PRISM Quartet’s 20th anniversary by Roshanne Etezady, Zack Browning, Tim Ries, Gregory Wanamaker, Renee Favand-See, Libby Larsen, Nick Didkovsky, Greg Osby, Donnacha Dennehy, Ken Ueno, Adam B. Silverman, William Bolcom, Matthew Levy, Jennifer Higdon, Dennis DeSantis, Robert Capanna, Keith Moore, Jason Eckardt, Frank J. Oteri, Perry Goldstein, Tim Berne, Chen Yi, James Primosch.
Albany Records #TROY895
Voyages for alto saxophone and piano
by Louis Karchin
Taimur Sullivan, alto saxophone
Marilyn Nonken, piano
Innova #731
Release Date: January 15, 2008
The PRISM Quartet pays homage to William Albright (1944-1998) in their 2008 innova release. This disc of Albright’s principal works for saxophone offers powerful testimony to the full range of his personality and his fascination with the expressive power of the instrument.
The disc features Albright’s seminal Fantasy Etudes, composed for PRISM in 1992/93, as well as Taimur Sullivan's recordings of the concerto Heater (with H. Robert Reynolds and the University of Michigan Symphony Band), Pit Band, and Doo-Dah.
Guest Artists:
Michael Lowenstern, bass clarinet; Marilyn Nonken, piano; Matthew Herskowitz, piano; University of Michigan Symphony Band, H. Robert Reynolds, conductor.
Albany Records #TROY610
Featuring:
Barrissement D'Elephant (baritone/soprano saxophone , pno, bs cl, vla, vcl, perc)
Three Short Stories (solo alto saxophone)