Garden State Sax Quartet
Announcements
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-NEW article written on Lazar Middle School's Haiti Benefit. Read up on it here.
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Triple Header Saturday, May 15th 2010
5/20/10 by Ellis
Hey all! Well…we had our first triple-header on May 15th. Our 1st stop was Pitman NJ, playing at their annual Earth Day celebration. It was an outdoor festival and a bit windy, which always presents challenges when reading music, but we played on and had a great time. They even served ‘Earth-day’ cake at the end of our performance.
After a small reprieve, we drove up to Glen Rock to play at the ‘Relay for Life’, a cancer benefit where the participants walk around a track all day, trading o
ff with team members. We played just outside of the track, as other performers had done before we arrived. It always fun playing for a good cause and it seemed like the runners (or walkers) had as much fun as we did.
Our last stop in our voyage placed us at the UC Lounge in NYC. This was our 2nd time there, and it’s always a blast! Between the awesome bartender, the audience participation, and the general good vibe of the lounge, we had a great time. Phew! That was a long day….and we can’t wait to do it again! Hope to see you at our next gig!!
-Ellis
Haiti Benefit May 14th, 2010
5/18/10 by Miguel
Tonight GSSQ was part of a wonderful event that took place at my school, Robert Lazar Middle School in Montville, NJ. It was a benefit concert fundraising money for the Haiti Relief Fund that has been in progress at the school since the disaster struck earlier this year. It was amazing playing in between the opening act of the Lazar Jazz Band and then a faculty rock band, which I played bass with. It was an awesome experience that was filled with great music making. It was pretty cool to also play alongside my principal and colleagues. It made me forget about all the budget cuts that are taking place in the Garden State.
The gym was packed with parents, teachers, and students which was a wonderful sight to see. They sang along to “Livin’ on a Prayer” and I received a bunch of compliments on Monday when coming to work about the level of the ensemble and they were surprised at our repertoire choice as well. Still to this day, it’s kind of nice to get the “I never knew four horns could play that music” comment.
Thanks to all those that came out to the benefit concert! We also received press from a local Morris County paper, The Daily Record-check it out:
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100513072
-Miguel
Panasonic April 27th, 2010
4/27/10 by Miguel
Hey all, it’s been a while since our last blog so I thought I would fill you on the GSSQ events recently as well as the upcoming gigs we have in store.
Firstly, on April 27th we had the wonderful opportunity to play for Panasonic Corporate as part of a workshop day at the Company Building in Seacaucus, NJ. We met the president, Dan Silver, who is an extremely wonderful person. He actually caught us at our NJPAC performance earlier this year and asked us to be the musical entertainment for the evening. He had wonderful things to say about GSSQ as well as his staff, personnel, and coworkers who all greeted us warmly! We loved playing there and I think the performance went over well as we gave Mr. Silver and a few of his coworkers a private concert at the end as the venue cleared. This was great fun and we hope to get involved in more corporate sponsored events in the future! Thanks to Dan Silver and Panasonic for this great opportunity.
Two days later, GSSQ did our first full outreach program in my school district where I teach, Montville Township. We performed for the entire sixth grade student body as part of a musical day of events which included student performances from the Robert R. Lazar 6th Grade Concert Band, Choir, and String Orchestra. We started off with some of our educational selections where we talked about classical music and then went on to our more Jazz oriented pieces to explain the relationship this music has to the saxophone. The students were really receptive to the information and asked fantastic questions throughout. Finally, we moved on to our popular stuff and started off with “Sweet Child O’Mine” as well as few other popular selections from Bon Jovi to Journey and then concluded the program with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. It was a huge thrill having the students clap along, sing along, and move to the beat of our playing. It was really a refreshing experience which reminded all of us as to why we perform, practice, and ultimately share music with people. I was also personally excited to perform for my students so that they can see “Mr. B” (as my students call me) practicing what he preaches in his band class. Thanks Lazar, it was truly a wonderful experience.
All in all, I think GSSQ had a great week to end April and have a fun filled May as well! Our next performances are May 14th for a Haiti Benefit Concert featuring a faculty band I will be performing with on Bass Guitar starting at 5:30PM. The following day we have a Triple Header and we travel through NJ from Pitman, NJ at 12 PM to Ridgefield Park, NJ at 5 PM, and then finishing off the day in NYC at Uncle Charlie’s Lounge at 10PM. Hope to see you guys in the city if you are around!!
-Miguel
Soprano Saxophone
New Jersey Performing Arts Center February 27th, 2010
3/5/10 by Miguel
GSSQ had an awesome gig this past weekend! We played at NJPAC for the Prelude Concert Series, opening up for the Peking Acrobats of China. It was wonderful being in a place where wonderful musicians from all around the world come to perform. The anxiety was quite palpable from the group before this performance. After a sound check, the doors of the lobby opened and we started our set. We started with a few jazz tunes and then moved to our pop material. I glanced up and saw that there were small pockets of listeners beginning to crowd around our performance area at the beginning of our set. I then looked back up by the end of our first pop tune and noticed a packed crowd in the lobby and people on all levels of the venue peering over the balconies to take a listen to what were doing! It was an amazing feeling having so many people watch us perform! We then closed our first set with “Stairway to Heaven” which was well received. We finished up our second set at intermission with our Journey cover and got the crowd clapping along with us which a great way to end our inaugural performance at NJPAC.
This gig was a wonderful experience all around. The group and the crowd were really in to what we were playing which is a terrific feeling. Clips of our performance will be posted on the NJPAC site as well as Youtube. We will also have them linked up here as they become available to us. All in all, this gig was a really remarkable experience and we hope to be back at NJPAC.
The next couple of gigs we have coming up include our NYC debut at Recoup Lounge and a few other NYC gigs in the coming months. Come out and support us at these venues! Hope to see you at our next gig! Take care.
-Miguel
Soprano Saxophone
Garfield Boys and Girls Club February 21st, 2010
2/23/10 by Rob
This past Sunday the Quartet had a new experience. We performed for a corporate brunch. A friend of GSSQ, Mr. John Reilly, was inducted as the new President of the Garfield Boys & Girls Club. The event was held at the Venetian, a stunning catering hall in Garfield, NJ. Our main purpose was to provide background music while guests were entering and during the brunch itself. It gave us the opportunity to perform traditional classical music, something we have not done in quite some time. In addition, we were privileged with performing our country's National Anthem, a first for the GSSQ. This beautiful arrangement done by our own Miguel Bolivar really brought the room to a halt. With everyone standing at attention I truly realized the power of this piece. It turned out to be a great afternoon for the group. Congratulations to Mr. John Reilly, all the officers, and the Garfield Boys & Girls Club.
Rob Quinn
Baritone Saxophone
Pianos Bar and Grill February 14th, 2010
2/20/10 by Robbie
The Garden State Saxophone Quartet would like to thank all of our families, friends,
and fans for coming out to support us this Valentine’s Day at Pianos Bar and Grill
in Bloomfield, NJ. As usual with the group it was a really rewarding experience.
When we arrived at the gig we were extremely anxious to play in an establishment
such as Pianos. On the wall when we first walked inwe were overwhelmed by the
headshots of every established musician that hasperformed there. We set up our
instruments, warmed up a bit, then did a sound check for balance. Acoustically the
restaurant had a very dry sound to it. It’s very ideal for small acoustical setups
such as voice and piano or even a saxophone quartet. We had two sets, we played for an
hour took a 15 minute break and then played for 45 minutes. We opened with a cover
of, “All You Need is Love” which I think was quite fitting considering it was
Valentine’s Day. We warmed the hearts of everyone with a couple of ballads
including, “My Funny Valentine” which is one of my favorite songs to play. It was
really great setting the mood for “The most romantic day of the year”. Most of the
crowd consisted of couples comingout to the restaurant to have a nice meal and
listen to some good music. We received such great compliments from everyone there and
we are extremely thankful for all of the support. All in all, the gig was a great
success, and once we finished the gig we sat down together and enjoyed a delicious
meal at Pianos. We really appreciate the support from all of our followers; thank you
so much! Hope to see you soon!
-Robert W. Harvey
2/20/10 by Robbie
The Garden State Saxophone Quartet would like to thank all of our families, friends, and fans for coming out to support us this Valentine’s Day at Pianos Bar and Grill in Bloomfield, NJ. As usual with the group it was a really rewarding experience. When we arrived at the gig we were extremely anxious to play in an establishment such as Pianos. On the wall when we first walked inwe were overwhelmed by the headshots of every established musician that hasperformed there. We set up our instruments, warmed up a bit, then did a sound check for balance. Acoustically the restaurant had a very dry sound to it. It’s very ideal for small acoustical setups such as voice and piano or even a saxophone quartet. We had two sets, we played for an hour took a 15 minute break and then played for 45 minutes. We opened with a cover of, “All You Need is Love” which I think was quite fitting considering it was Valentine’s Day. We warmed the hearts of everyone with a couple of ballads including, “My Funny Valentine” which is one of my favorite songs to play. It was really great setting the mood for “The most romantic day of the year”. Most of the crowd consisted of couples comingout to the restaurant to have a nice meal and listen to some good music. We received such great compliments from everyone there and we are extremely thankful for all of the support. All in all, the gig was a great success, and once we finished the gig we sat down together and enjoyed a delicious meal at Pianos. We really appreciate the support from all of our followers; thank you so much! Hope to see you soon!-Robert W. Harvey
John J. Cali School of Music Alumni Concert January 24th, 2010
1/28/10 by Ellis
So this last Sunday, we had the pleasure of performing at the new Jed Leshowitz recital hall at Montclair State University for the ‘distinguished alumni’ concert. It was great seeing a lot of old faces (friends, colleagues, old professors) and the hall itself was very impressive. The audience’s seats are skewed at an angle to the right of the stage, and there is a balcony that extends above and slightly behind the stage.
There were a lot of wonderful performances, including a colleague and friend of mine, Raul Huaman, who composed and performed a jazz/rock piece with a jazz trio comprised of guitar, bass and drums.
We played the third movement of Miguel’s Saxophone Quartet No. 1. The performance of the piece, aside from being a lot of fun, was pretty well received. I have to say though, playing music live (as opposed to recording) is a lot of fun and has its own set of challenges. The main challenge to me is the environment…meaning the people in the audience as well as the physical hall. Because this was an alumni concert, a large part of the audience was comprised of music majors (some still in school, some graduated) and music faculty. This being the case, they would hear the music, not only for enjoyment but also, at some level, with a critical ear. The other half is the hall we performed in. At the time of the performance, the recital hall was very live, meaning the sound was reverberant and a bit bright. When we were loud, some of the faster musical lines might have been lost. We also had to compensate a bit for the extra wetness of the hall by playing everything a bit shorter then we would normally.
Nevertheless the experience was, as usual with this group, a fun one! It was great being back at Montclair for a little bit and it's wonderful seeing what directions some other people are going in.
Well that’s all I've got for now. Keep checking back here and I hope to see some new faces at our next gig!
-Ellis
Rutherford High School Band Day January 14, 2010
1/22/10 by Miguel
Thanks for visiting the GSSQ website! We’re super excited to get rolling in 2010! We’ve got some exciting gigs coming up this year as well as launching new material on this site; one of them being the quartet blog. We’ll be filling you in on our gigs and letting you know of any events or thoughts about them we are having.
Our first concert of the year was at our friend Jon Kinne’s high school band day here in NJ. I did a clinic with the 7-12 grade saxophonists and then GSSQ took the stage culminating the day’s events. We were amped to play for the kids and were a little anxious to see how they would respond to us. After playing the first pop tune, we knew it was going to be a great time. They sang along, clapped along, and cheered for us. It was really fun. I was even fortunate enough to talk to a soprano saxophone student from one of the schools after the show.
I’d like to thank Jon and the Rutherford School District for letting us come out and work with their students. It was a blast and it really opened our eyes to another fulfilling opportunity to play some music! You can check out the live performance on YouTube and on our Audio/Video page as well.
Next up is performing as part of the “Distinguished Alumni Concert” at John Jay Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. We’re thrilled to be a part of this event and it’s extra special for us as we’re all alumni of the school and we’re playing a piece of mine as well. It’ll be nice to see some old faces, meet some new ones, and play some music for everyone.
See you all soon!
-Miguel