Steven Banks, a Virtuoso of the Saxophone, Invites You to “Come As You are”
An apt title for his debut recital on youtube for the non-profit organization Young Concert Artists, Steven Banks was named one of their 2019 laureates. As he introduces the evenings' theme Come As You Are at the beginning of the performance that I and the majority of us watched from our computers, he explains (and I paraphrase here): These are troubling times, and we are all coming from a varying frame of mind with fatigue, joy, confusion, and possibly in pajamas.
Featuring the excellent Xak Bjerken on piano, young, handsome, confident Mr. Banks begins the evening with Carlos Simons’ Hear Them, a commission for YCA/WPA. A perfect introduction to show off Mr. Banks' deft fluidity and range. Its poignant, deep nuances remind me of crying children before they are received into nurturing arms. The piece is contemplative, involving many moods in which Mr. Banks can cradle his symbiotic playing into a perfectly woven fabric of sound emnating from his soul through his instrument; he and his saxophone are a single constellation of sound.
This great classical saxophonist treats us to Mozart Oboe Quartet's works in F Major, K.370/368b-featuring the Zora Quartet. He dazzles us with his embrace of the music as they support him with their knowledgeable grace. Mr. Banks follows with Schumann’s…
