VINNY GOLIA - A Gift For The UnusuaL; Music For Contrabass Saxophone (2005)

VINNIA GOLIA tuba (contrabass saxophone), gordophone (10)

BILL CASALE double bass (1)(5)(7)
JESSICA CATRON cello (7)
WAYNE PEET electric piano, theremin, synthesizer (7) organ (8) piano (2)(5)
BILL BARRETT chromatic harmonica (8)
MICHAEL PIERRE VLATKOVICH trombone (1)(5)

Nine Winds Records - NWCD0239

REVIEWS

West coast sax maven Vinny Golia brings out a set where he plays the tubax, a new type of contrabass saxophone
designed by German inventor Benedict Eppelsheim. A standard contrabass saxophone is a rather unwieldly beast, often
difficult to tame. Apparently, the tubax solves many of these shortcomings by being both a full-sounding and
controllable instrument.
Right from the start, the opener finds the tubax often sounding like a contrabass clarinet, yet with a metallic and more
powerful sound. Lasting slightly over one minute, this piece serves more as an introduction and to set the tone for the
rest of the music. "Repetition" is a trio of tubax, trombone, and contrabass. This piece finds the three instruments
weaving dark, melodic lines around each other. At times, the tubax and arco contrabass are difficult to distinguish
from each other, their tonalities melding together.

"Eye My" is a swinging duo with Wayne Peet. The tubax really benefits from the piano's contrast in timbre and attack.
Golia tends to play a more legato, linear style here, and the sharp, staccato of the piano is the perfect foil. Originally
written for bass sax, "The Mozart of Vice" is a tubax/contrabass/trombone/piano outing. Bassist Bill Casale sets up an
opening line over which Golia and trombonist Michael Pierre Vlatkovich weave the melody. With no fault towards the
musicianship, the music just seems to plod along.
Golia has never been one to shy away from exploring different aspects of creative music, and this is no exception. His
bravery in making a recording solely on tubax may be overshadowed by the limited tonality of the instrument over
sixty four minutes. And his choice of instrumentation often keeps the sounds in the low registers, making repeated
listenings a challenge. This CD may be more of an acquired taste than anything—the music, grounded in the bass
register, rarely takes off. - Aaj Staff

The thunderous growl of the Tubax may not be very widespread, but since German instrument maker Benedikt
Eppelsheim created this new member of the saxophone family, several jazzmen, especially those of provocative or
experimental persuasions, have adopted it. Vinny Golia is one of them and may very well be the musician and
composer who understood the quickest the full potential of the behemoth. On A Gift for the Unusual, Golia presents
new and fairly recent solo and ensemble pieces written for the Tubax, a surprisingly flexible and powerful contrabass
saxophone. This is not the instrument of choice for a serenade, but Golia still manages to squeeze a serious dose of
lyricism out of it, along with rumbling drones, rocking vamps and all kinds of jagged melodies and fierce solos. The
solo pieces explore various aspects of the instrument's sound without turning into didactical exercises. The ten-minute
"A History of Everything That Ever Happened" is actually a phenomenal showcase, full of punchy licks and roaring
extended techniques. The five-times overdubbed piece "Just Something I Thought Of" is somewhat less convincing, as
the sound picture gets a bit blurry. More interesting is the low-end grouping in "Repetition" and "The Mozart of Vice,"
both pieces featuring Michael Vlatkovitch on trombone and Bill Casale on contrabass. Also appearing on the album are
Wayne Peet (playing piano on two tracks, organ on one, and electric piano, theremin, and synth on another), Jessica
Catron (cello) and harmonicist Bill Barrett of Steuart Liebig's the Mentones. The album concludes with the beautiful
"The Last of Its Kind," a three-minute Tubax dirge with a meditative gordophone melody. - François Couture