Prism Quartet
One of the leading saxophone chamber ensembles, the PRISM Quartet are known for their focus on new music composers and stylistically wide-ranging taste, straddling classical, jazz, avant-garde, and world music traditions. Highly prolific, they have released a string of albums from the 1990s onward, exploring the works of composers like William Albright, JacobTV, Gavin Bryars, William Bolcom, and others. Along with collaborations with the Music from China ensemble and Boston Modern Orchestra Project, they have also commissioned works by international composers including Bang on a Can's Julia Wolfe, Tyshawn Sorey, Jennifer Higdon, Zhou Long, and Bernard Rands, to name a few. In 2024, they released the third in their ongoing Heritage/Evolution series showcasing modern jazz saxophonists, which has included luminaries like Rudresh Mahanthappa, Greg Osby, Miguel Zenón, and others.
Formed in 1984 by fellow University of Michigan music students, the PRISM Quartet initially featured saxophonists Matthew Levy, Tim Ries, Michael Whitcombe, and Timothy Miller. Over the years, the group's membership shifted, solidifying around multi-reedists Levy, Timothy McAllister, Zachary Shemon, and Taimur Sullivan. Although each member is active on their own, together they have performed around the globe and held residencies at conservatories including the Curtis Institute of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory. Since 1997, they have hosted a concert series, presenting new compositions by composers around the world. They are two-time recipients of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and have commissioned works by a bevy of composers including William Bolcom, Jennifer Higdon, Zhou Long, Julia Wolfe. In 2016, the University of Michigan named them the first recipient of the Christopher Kendall Award.
The group made their recorded debut in 1990 with The PRISM Quartet, showcasing works by Pierre Max Dubois, Jean Baptiste Singelee, Matthew Levy, Phil Woods, and Russell Peck. They returned in 2000 with the jazz-oriented Real Standard Time, featuring appearances by drummers John Riley, Matt Wilson, and Eric Halverson, organist Larry Goldings, guitarists Ben Monder and Bob Ward, pianist Franck Amsallem, and bassists Tony Scherr and Johannes Weidenmuller.
Yet more stylistically expansive recordings followed, including explorations of works by composer William Albright and Dutch avant-garde composer JacobTV. In 2009, they delivered Concertos for Saxophone Quartet, working with conductor Gil Rose and Boston Modern Orchestra Project on a series of concertos by William Bolcom and Steven Mackey. The following year, they collaborated with the Music from China ensemble on Antiphony and followed with recordings with composer Martin Bresnick and David Laganella.
In 2011, they marked their 20th anniversary with Dedication, recording works by their own Levy, as well as Ireland's Donnacha Dennehy, William Bolcom, Chen Yi, Jennifer Higdon, and others. The Singing Gobi Desert arrived in 2014 and found the quartet presenting works by several Chinese-born composers including Bright Sheng, Lei Liang, Fang Man, and Huang Ruo. That same year, they collaborated with jazz artists Rudresh Mahanthappa, Jason Moran, Ben Monder, Jay Anderson, Bill Stewart, and François Zayas on People's Emergency Center.
In 2015, they released Heritage/Evolution, Vol. 1, the first in their ongoing series showcasing modern jazz saxophone luminaries. The album featured guests including founding member Tim Ries, Steve Lehman, Dave Liebman, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Greg Osby, and Miguel Zenón. The Curtis Project, a 2012 collaboration with composers from the Curtis Institute of Music, appeared in 2016, as did an album of music by English composer Gavin Bryars. The following year, they released a recording of works by composer Wayne Peterson featuring Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. They also joined keyboardist Uri Caine on his 2019 album Book of Days and interpreted works by composers Christopher Biggs, Victoria Cheah, Viet Cuong, Emily Koh, and Joseph Sowa on 2020's Surfaces and Essences.
In 2021, they released Heritage/Evolution, Vol.2, showcasing jazz saxophonists Ravi Coltrane, Joe Lovano, and Chris Potter. Pueblito Viejo, a recording of works by Latin American composers José A. Morales and Roberto Saghini, arrived the following year. Heritage/Evolution, Vol. 3 appeared in 2024 and featured Tim Ries, Melissa Aldana, Miguel Zenón, and trumpeter Terrell Stafford.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
Discography
21 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Gavin Bryars: The Fifth Century - Two Love Songs
The Crossing, Donald Nally, Prism Quartet
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on Nov 18, 2016
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
People's Emergency Center
Jazz - Released by Innova on May 6, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Heritage/Evolution, Vol. 2
Prism Quartet, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter
Jazz - Released by XAS Records on Aug 13, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Heritage/Evolution, Vol. 3
Prism Quartet, Miguel Zenón, Melissa Aldana
Jazz - Released by XAS Records on Mar 22, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Heritage / Evolution, Vol. 1 (feat. Steve Lehman, Dave Liebman, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Greg Osby, Tim Ries & Miguel Zenón)
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Innova on Jan 27, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Color Theory
Prism Quartet, So Percussion, Partch, Stratis Minakakis
Classical - Released by XAS Records on Apr 14, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
VELDHUIS, J. ter: Pitch Black / Billie / Postnuclear Winterscenario No. 10 / Grab it! / The Garden of Love / Jesus is coming (Prism Quartet) (Jacob ter Veldhuis)
Classical - Released by Innova on Jan 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paradigm Lost
Classical - Released by XAS Records on Sep 22, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Curtis Project
Chamber Music - Released by XAS Records on Apr 29, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mending Wall
Prism Quartet, Tony Arnold, Arturo O'Farrill
Classical - Released by XAS Records on Dec 1, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Surfaces and Essences
Chamber Music - Released by XAS Records on Apr 17, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Antiphony
Guo-wei Wang, Prism Quartet, Li Sun, Liqun Li, Frank Cassara
Chamber Music - Released by Innova on Mar 30, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pueblito Viejo
Latin America - Released by XAS Records on Apr 8, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chen Yi: Ba Yin (Version for Saxophone Quartet & Wind Ensemble)
Prism Quartet, Conservatory Wind Symphony of the University of Missouri—Kansas City, Steven D. Davis
Classical - Released by XAS Records on Jan 18, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
Classical - Released by XAS Records on Dec 6, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Breath Beneath
Experimental - Released by New Dynamic Records on Feb 2, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Procession Along the Aciga Tree
Classical - Released by XAS Records on Oct 6, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Body of Your Dreams
Classical - Released by XAS Records on Jan 6, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dedication (Prism Quartet)
Jazz - Released by Innova on May 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo