In celebration of the saxophone: As Timothy McAllister performs with the Fresno Philharmonic, here are 5 Things to Know about ‘A Kind of Trane’

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“Coltrane was one of the first major jazz artists I heard that I thought was doing things that were just kind of beyond my comprehension when I was young. He was aspiring for something greater than himself, and I think the piece elicits that,” he says.

2. It’s a difficult piece. Very difficult.

“Critics have said that the piece – because of its density and how much is going on, and how much is demanded of the soloist – almost sounds like whole stretches of free improvisation. But every single note is composed. Every single note is written out. So it makes it really, really challenging because you’re trying to honor this literal script.”

In other words, the effect is almost like everything feels spur of the moment. But it’s all carefully choreographed.

3. The line between classical and jazz saxophonists can be fuzzy, but it’s important.

McAllister chose the classical route, devoting his life to playing symphonic and contemporary chamber music. In his estimation, it’s nearly impossible for someone to be able to do both classical and jazz and be absolutely at the top of both fields.

“That’s been my focus because I was not someone who could be as good as I am doing classical and also have that same level of ability in the jazz side. I just never took my jazz playing to the level that I chose to take my classical. There are those that might do both, but they have to split their attention between both worlds.”

Top of the classical game is indeed the case with McAllister, whose list of accomplishments is long and impressive. (He’s premiered over 250 works by contemporary composers; performed with many of the world’s great orchestras, including a major tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and is an international recording artist with the PRISM quartet. In his “spare” time, he teaches at the University of Michigan, helping shape the next generation of saxophonists.)

The fuzzy world of the saxophonist is reflected by the composition of the typical orchestra. There were efforts in the 1920s and ‘30s to expand the instrumentation of traditional orchestras to include saxophones, but economics intervened. A saxophonist is usually an “on-call” player today. This is the case even though out of the Top 40 classical pieces, at least 10 of them call for saxophones, McAllister estimates. (“Bolero,” anyone?) Still, he teaches his students that theirs will be a life of freelance gigs.

4. The Masterworks program is eclectic.

The orchestra also will perform John Adams’ “The Chairman Dances,” a 1985 composition subtitled “Foxtrot for Orchestra.” And the biggie on the program is Brahms’ Symphony No. 3. Rei Hotoda conducts.

5. Be prepared to open your ears and feel your heart rate go up while you listen to that river of notes.

The concert program includes a dose of gorgeous, accessible music, including the famed Third Movement of the Brahms symphony, which has been featured in multiple films and was recorded by the Ramsay Lewis Trio as “You’ll Love Me Yet.” But in “A Kind of Trane,” the average listener might be pushed a bit out of their comfort zone.

McAllister’s advice: Embrace the acrobatics. Soak up all that unbridled energy.

“I think they’re in for a thrill ride,” he says. “It’s a breathtaking piece for both the soloist and the audience. I hope they’ll be caught up in that spiritual intensity that I think that Coltrane was about.”

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