Colin Stetson - 9 Albums (2008-2016)

Colin Stetson is an American saxophonist and multireedist. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, and Bell Orchestre. In addition to saxophone, he plays clarinet, bass clarinet, French horn, flute, and cornet. Stetson has released a trilogy of solo releases, entitled New History Warfare, a collaborative studio album with violinist Sarah Neufeld, entitled Never Were the Way She Was (2015) and Sorrow, a "reimagining" of Górecki's 3rd symphony (2016).

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently based in Montreal, Quebec, Stetson attended the University of Michigan School of Music, where he joined Transmission Trio. Stetson was also athletically involved in high school, starting on the football team, competing in several different events on the track team and wrestling in the 152 weight division. Stetson is known for his classical saxophone inclination and he started taking lessons at age 15. He also played with the groups Boostamonte and the People's Bizarre. Prior to attending the University of Michigan School of Music with a full scholarship as a classical sax player, he attended the All-State Program at Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Stetson has performed and recorded with dozens of artists, including Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, Feist, Bon Iver, My Brightest Diamond, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Jolie Holland, Sinéad O'Connor, LCD Soundsystem, The Chemical Brothers, Animal Collective, The National, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Angélique Kidjo, Kevin Devine, Beanie Burnett, BADBADNOTGOOD, and Anthony Braxton.

His extended saxophone techniques cover advanced circular breathing, multiphonics, altissimo, microtones, (reed) vocalisations, percussive valve-work, clicking keys, and growling.

Solo career
His first solo album, New History Warfare, Vol. 1, was released in 2008. His second album, New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges, was released by Constellation Records in early 2011. On June 16, the album was named as a longlisted nominee (one of 40) for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize. On July 6, the album was named as a shortlisted (one of 10) nominee for the 2011 award. Stetson was chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he curated in December 2011 in Minehead, England.

The final album of the trilogy, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light, was released by Constellation Records in April 2013, and was a longlist nominee for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize.

Colin Stetson's most recent album, All This I Do for Glory, was released on April 28, 2017.

Score work
Stetson and regular collaborator Sarah Neufeld composed the score to the 2013 film Blue Caprice and the 2016 film Outlaws and Angels.



This needs to be said up front: Colin Stetson is an absolute master of the saxophone. He has formidable breath control and circular breathing technique, a great sense of dynamics, and extremely impressive control over multiphonics and timbral changes: he can basically do anything that can be done with a saxophone (and maybe some things that can't). Although there is just a touch of studio treatment on a couple tracks and sampled, spoken intros to a couple more, New History Warfare, Vol. 1 is essentially an album of solo saxophone performances with no overdubbing. But this is no platform for free blowing and empty showboating; these pieces are clearly through-composed. Whether the track is one minute long or eight, there is an easily discernible structure, clear logic, and a strong sense of forward momentum to each of these tunes. Stetson's ability to build separate musical lines on top of each other is nothing short of astonishing. It's something like Rahsaan Roland Kirk playing two different melodies against a drone, except Kirk did it on three horns and Stetson is doing it on one.

"And It Fought to Escape" is a perfect encapsulation of Stetson's style. It begins almost imperceptibly as a percussive pulse is established with the saxophone keys playing against a breathy background. He then adds bits of melody on top until he is having a conversation between different registers of the saxophone while somehow maintaining the pulse. The breath control and dynamics are amazing, as are the sounds he makes with his saxophone. Switching gears, "Groundswell" almost sounds like a flute/bass duet at times. On "Nobu Take," Stetson's clarinet sounds more like a keyboard, simultaneously evoking Eastern European folk music and electronica, while "Tiger Tiger Crane" begins with what sounds like beatboxing through the sax. But Stetson's musicality far outweighs any notion of gimmicks. The pieces are deeply focused and never overstay their welcome. Not only that, but the strong structures and internal logic of the pieces make them far more listenable than many so-called avant-garde recordings.

New History Warfare, Vol. 1 is a truly impressive, fully formed, and highly individual musical statement. It's amazing from a purely technical standpoint, but Stetson's compositions and ability to tell a musical story are what make this a great album. You haven't heard saxophone music quite like this. No one else could have written this music because no one plays quite like Colin Stetson. Truly impressive. Evan Parker fans, take note: this guy is someone to watch. ~ AllMusic Review by Sean Westergaard

Track List:
01. And It Fought To Escape (8:20)
02. Stand, Walk (1:30)
03. Groundswell (1:39)
04. Time Is Advancing With Fitful Irregularity (7:07)
05. Drown The Rats And Giants (1:13)
06. As A Bird Or Branch (4:14)
07. OHP (0:37)
08. Quincy Had A Glandular Problem (1:37)
09. Nobu Take (4:53)
10. Tiger Tiger Crane (3:14)
11. Letter To HST (3:16)
12. Our Heartbreak Perfect (11:03)





Track List:
01. The Righteous Wrath Of An Honorable Man (2:29)
02. Judges (Damian Taylor Concretification Mix) (3:31)





Colin Stetson's 2008 album New History Warfare, Vol. 1 showcased the saxophonist/multi-reedist's phenomenal multiphonic improvisation style and circular breathing technique. Released in 2011, New History Warfare, Vol. 2: Judges features a similar exploratory solo saxophone approach that is nothing short of mind-blowing. Stetson uses the circular breathing style, recorded in single takes and occasionally with overdubs, to create atmospheric and hypnotic loops that sound like layered analog keyboards more than saxophones. In that sense, the tracks here often bring to mind something along the lines of Jean Michel Jarre crossed with Roscoe Mitchell. These tracks allow Stetson to skronk and pulse, wheeze and then soar with white jet-engine noise that is never purposeless and always controlled. Also featured here are a few spoken word sections with avant-garde icon Laurie Anderson – including the poetic "A Dream of Water" – that lend a cinematic quality to the proceedings. Elsewhere, vocalist Shara Worden delivers a haunting lead on the spiritual "Lord I Just Can't Keep from Crying Sometimes." Primarily, however, it is Stetson's transcendent and muscular ability to layer sound, breath, and rhythm in a meditative compositional style that sticks with you long after Judges is over. ~ AllMusic Review by Matt Collar

Track List:
01. Awake On Foreign Shores (1:30)
02. Judges (5:13)
03. The Stars In His Head (Dark Lights Remix) (5:30)
04. All The Days I’ve Missed You (ILAIJ I) (1:16)
05. From No Part Of Me Could I Summon A Voice (2:16)
06. A Dream Of Water (3:36)
07. Home (3:12)
08. Lord I Just Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes (4:49)
09. Clothed In The Skin Of The Dead (3:41)
10. All The Colors Bleached To White (ILAIJ II) (0:36)
11. Red Horse (Judges II) (2:58)
12. The Righteous Wrath Of An Honorable Man (2:28)
13. Fear Of The Unknown And The Blazing Sun (2:42)
14. In Love And In Justice (4:54)





Track List:
01. Those Who Didn’t Run (10:27)
02. The End Of Your Suffering (10:05)





Recorded live at the Vancouver Jazz Festival in 2011, Stones is the debut collaboration between groundbreaking saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Colin Stetson. Both men are well documented as soloists and collaborators. For Gustafsson (tenor and baritone horns here) the list includes his own bands the Thing and Fire!, as well as Sonic Youth, Boredoms, Ken Vandermark, Joe McPhee, and Peter Brötzmann. Stetson (alto and bass saxes), a member of Arcade Fire's touring ensemble, has played with everyone from David Byrne and Laurie Anderson to Tom Waits, Feist, and LCD Soundsystem. Comprised of four on-the-spot improvisations, these titles were inspired by the late poet Gunnar Ekelöf (the father of modern Swedish poetry). This is not a skronkfest in which two saxophonists go head on. Instead, these improvisations express a deep, wide-ranging communication that employs rhythm, dissonance, an unconventional yet clearly present lyricism, tonal and harmonic explorations, and various mechanical techniques. The technical prowess on display is considerable, but it is secondary to Gustafsson and Stetson making music together. While the album begins slowly and purposefully, finding tonal commonalities in lower-end expression, it moves far and wide. A language is discovered very early, and what these two carve out in "Stones That Rest Heavily" and establish in "Stones That Can Only Be," are codes of speech: utterances, dynamics, spaces, exclamations, and textures. They are the building blocks of a mysterious, even beguiling conversation. But that speech is not limited; they don't stay in one place long enough to be weighted by their discoveries; they push at them until they give; going underneath them into their core, which in turn becomes the articulation of music's own multifaceted expressive poetics. Though immediately drawn in by the proceedings, by the time we encounter "Stones That Need Not," and closer "Stones That Only Have," even the human voice is utilized in a string of fluid inventions and exchanges that are startling in their complexity, intuition, and emotion. The listener is not excluded from this conversation. Instead, it is extended to her via the duo's adherence to close listening and the economy of their individual and collective expressions. With Stones, Gustafsson and Stetson have encountered not only one another in a magical way, but they communicate the power of beauty itself. ~ AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek

Track List:
01. stones that rest heavily (12:23)
02. stones that can only be (5:04)
03. stones that need not (9:03)
04. stones that only have (8:08)





Improviser and composer Colin Stetson's solo work is characterized by dense sheets of saxophone/woodwinds that present a similar approach as loop-based music while being recorded in single live takes with no overdubs. This unique and challenging discipline calls on elements of jazz, modern composition, and even aspects of repetition and textural drone found in certain branches of electronic music and noise. With New History Warfare, Vol. 3, Stetson explores scorched landscapes and heavenly scenes alike with his stylized playing. He spent time collaborating with Bon Iver, and singer Justin Vernon returns the favor and contributes his signature falsetto vocals to four songs here – these vocals are the only overdubs on the album, though detailed production by Ben Frost would lead listeners to believe otherwise. ~ AllMusic Review by Fred Thomas

Track List:
01. And In Truth (1:34)
02. Hunted (5:51)
03. High Above A Grey Green Sea (4:25)
04. In Mirrors (1:26)
05. Brute (2:55)
06. Among The Sef (Righteous II) (4:36)
07. Who The Waves Are Roaring For (Hunted II) (4:07)
08. To See More Light (15:08)
09. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? (3:36)
10. This Bed Of Shattered Bone (2:09)
11. Part Of Me Apart From You (5:51)





The primary meeting place for saxophonist and bass clarinetist Colin Stetson and violinist Sarah Neufeld is Arcade Fire. She is a permanent member; he often plays with the band on tour. That said, both record for Constellation as solo artists. Never Were the Way She Was was written and recorded live in the studio with no overdubs or loops. Both artists bring the personas displayed on their own recordings, but to new ends. These eight pieces are songlike, despite the spontaneity of their settings. Stetson's circular breathing technique and his physical approach to getting sound from the saxophone's finger pads create both melodic and rhythmic pulses and possibilities, though both players trade places in responsibility for the latter. Neufeld possesses an inherent lyricism in her tone, but there is always the suggestion of coiled tension. On "Won't Be a Thing to Become," his circularity offers a modal pulse that changes keys slightly and slowly while Neufeld gradually unfolds mid-register lines into a melody. Her singing voice shimmers in from the margin wordlessly. "In the Vespers" begins almost as a reel while Stetson engages Steve Reich-ian repetition, freeing up both players to explore rhythm, harmony, and texture. "With the Dark Hug of Time" commences with her haunting violin in the center. Amid its spacious echoes, Stetson plays slow, droning single notes and splutters that establish a pattern. She begins to engage with its fringes as he picks up the tempo and tension, adding more percussive tones. She responds in urgent yet lyric legato. When she begins to spiral out from the form and aggressively improvise, Stetson stretches the tonal frame to the breaking point. His more primal, aggressive pad work on "The Rest of Us" is answered by a sawing, frenetic drone from Neufeld. The pair almost approach techno in their disciplined repetition, but fluctuations, though slight, are striking as her voice dips in and out, stray notes fall from the horn, and echo drenches the violin's middle register. The set's long title number is elegiac. Neufeld's violin is supported by long, hushed tones from Stetson. He reaches deep into the lower register of the baritone sax to dig out contrasting (yet never clashing) sonorities, illuminating her wordless singing voice that emerges and retreats. The track never generates heat and doesn't need to; it remains elegantly somber, languid, yet there is the trace suggestion that something darker lies outside its frame. If there's a complaint about Never Were the Way She Was, it's that it's too brief. These pieces last only as long as they hold interest for the players, though they all create a real desire for more in the listener – which is no complaint at all. ~ AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek

Track List:
01. The sun roars into view (7:37)
02. Won’t be a thing to become (3:24)
03. In the vespers (6:02)
04. And still they move (2:57)
05. With the dark hug of time (6:34)
06. The rest of us (6:31)
07. Never were the way she was (8:13)
08. Flight (1:38)





It is only fitting that on Sorrow, groundbreaking, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser Colin Stetson should "reimagine" Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3 ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"). Górecki's work is itself a "reimagining" of medieval modalism, one that doesn't strictly adhere to its compositional formulae.

Written in the seventies, it signaled Górecki's hard break with serialism. Instead, he composed a minimally harmonic work in three slow, repetitive movements accompanying texts whose themes were loss and grief. The first is a folk lament from Mary the mother of Jesus witnessing his death; the second is a note from a teenage girl to her mother that was scrawled on the wall of a concentration camp prison; the last comes from a folk song, portraying a mother calling out to her lost son killed during the Silesian Uprisings. The 1992 version recorded by conductor David Zinman with soprano Dawn Upshaw is one of the best-selling classical recordings of all time.

Stetson doesn't change Górecki's notation, but he changes the orchestration and tonal palette considerably. Originally written for a 60-piece orchestra, Stetson's 12-player ensemble includes violin, cellos, electric guitars, drums, keyboards, reeds, and mezzo-soprano (Megan Stetson, his sister). In altering the arrangements and instrumentation, he radically shifts the textural, dynamic, and harmonic pillars of Górecki's composition. They underscore its core and uncover a cavernous well of sounds, unsettling, even overwhelming emotions, and a heightened sense impressions.

At over 28 minutes, the first movement is longer than the other two combined. Its simple melody commences with a hushed solo baritone saxophone – with fingerwork and breathing audible – followed by more horns, cellos, violin, reeds, synths, tremolo-picked electric guitars, flailing cymbals, and kick drums. A black metal squall ensues and then suddenly vanishes. The lyric restatement introduces Megan Stetson. Her singing is physical, she inhabits the ensemble, articulating the words rather than soaring above them. (Her emotional depth recalls the 1978 debut recording that featured Polish soprano Stefania Woytowicz.) The second movement emerges more gently with strings at the fore. Before long, it becomes a dirge, an elegy the mezzo claims as the rumbling center. The music retreats back toward folk melody briefly, but propulsive tribal rhythms drive the ensemble painted by swarming blurs of electronics; the mezzo rises to respond. In the final movement, trebly, strummed black metal guitars, doom-laden processional drums, walls of noise, ululating reeds, and electronic drones engulf the listener. Megan Stetson's voice is the only element binding the music to earth. But just as crashing cymbals, sweeping strings, cascading keyboards, and circular horns assume the plateau of tension, Megan Stetson's singing breaks it wide open; her voice transforms the entire swell into a spiritually resonant, redemptive acceptance of, and answer to, inconsolable grief.

Sorrow is a radical, challenging reinterpretation of Górecki's symphony, but it is also an accessible one. Stetson and his ensemble deliver a musically diverse, acute, deep reading that underlines its intention as an extended, focused, powerful, and utterly beautiful meditation on unspeakable loss. ~ AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek

Track List:
01. I (28:25)
02. II (10:13)
03. III (13:45)





Track List:
01. Main Title Outlaws and Angels (3:20)
02. Charlie’s Kin (0:33)
03. Rubdown (2:16)
04. Sunrise (0:32)
05. Hit Em at Dark (0:09)
06. Dinnertime (1:31)
07. Breakfast (0:55)
08. Goodbye Sissy (0:41)
09. At God’s Doorstep (1:56)
10. Breaking the Law (3:58)
11. Sunrise (Reprise) (1:14)
12. Devil’s Girl (feat. Melody Michalski) (3:29)



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