As We Are Julian Velasco & Winston Choi

• Steven Banks (b. 1954): Come as You Are:
• 1Banks: Come as You Are: I. Lift My Eyes05:39
• 2Banks: Come as You Are: II. Times of the Storm03:23
• 3Banks: Come as You Are: III. Strength of My Life04:34
• 4Banks: Come as You Are: IV. Lift My Eyes04:14
• David Maslanka (1943 - 2017): Tone Studies for Alto Saxophone & Piano:
• 5Maslanka: Tone Studies for Alto Saxophone & Piano: No. 5, Wie bist du, seele04:56
• John Anthony Lennon (b. 1950): Distances Within Me
• 6Lennon: Distances Within Me11:21
• Amanda Harberg (b. 1973): Court Dances for Flute & Piano (Arr. J. Velasco for Soprano Saxophone & Piano):
• 7Harberg: Court Dances for Flute & Piano (Arr. J. Velasco for Soprano Saxophone & Piano): No. 1, Courante03:48
• 8Harberg: Court Dances for Flute & Piano (Arr. J. Velasco for Soprano Saxophone & Piano): No. 2, Air de cour05:34
• 9Harberg: Court Dances for Flute & Piano (Arr. J. Velasco for Soprano Saxophone & Piano): No. 3, Tambourin04:18
• Elijah Daniel Smith: Animus:
• 10Smith: Animus07:37
• Christopher Cerrone (b. 1984): Liminal Highway:
• 11Cerrone: Liminal Highway: I. When You Fall Asleep in Transit03:04
• 12Cerrone: Liminal Highway: II. A Dream You Don't Recall03:57
• 13Cerrone: Liminal Highway: III. Between Consciousness and Sleep02:33
• 14Cerrone: Liminal Highway: IV. Liminal03:45
• 15Cerrone: Liminal Highway: V. Suddenly It Is Missing03:16
• Total Runtime01:11:59

Info for As We Are

Saxophonist Julian Velasco headlines an inventive, virtuosic, and diverse album of contemporary classical works for soprano, alto, and tenor sax as winner of Cedille Records’ first Emerging Artist Competition, a juried event celebrating the independent classical label’s 30th anniversary of championing Windy City artists of world-class talent.

For his first-ever album as a featured soloist, Velasco has assembled a program he says reflects “the different musical aspects of my life at this moment” while paying tribute to “the unique and wonderful people with whom I have been lucky enough to surround myself.”

As We Are opens with works for saxophone and piano, performed with collaborative pianist extraordinaire Winston Choi. These include the world-premiere recording of classical saxophonist and composer Steven Banks’ Come As You Are, with Velasco on tenor sax, a composition influenced by African American sacred music and structured like a four-movement sonata. Velasco picks up his alto sax for David Maslanka’s Tone Studies No. 5: Wie bist du, Seele, which adopts its melody from a J. S. Bach four-part chorale. John Anthony Lennon’s Distances Within Me explores the vocal qualities of the alto sax in a score drawing inspiration from early 20th-century avant-gardist Alban Berg’s Wozzeck and jazz fusion bands like pianist Chick Corea’s Return to Forever. Amanda Harberg’s Court Dances, heard here in the world-premiere recording of the soprano sax version, is a three-movement suite referencing French Renaissance and Baroque court dances.

Works for saxophone and electronics include world premieres of the soprano sax versions of Elijah Daniel Smith’s Animus and Christopher Cerrone’s Liminal Highway. Animus places the live-in-studio saxophonist “in conversation” with his own recordings. Liminal Highway, inspired by a John K. Sampson poem of the same name, calls for extended techniques such as flutter-tongue, slap-tongue, and key clicks, while enlisting a harmonica and empty beer bottles, also played by the saxophonist.

"For several years, I have wanted to write a piece dedicated to my immediate family (my mother and three sisters) and the influence of my upbringing on my understanding of music and life in general. It seemed obvious to me that this piece needed to take influence from African-American church music in some way. In an effort to honor both my family and the church, I decided to write a four-movement work in which each movement would be dedicated to a different family member and take inspiration from their favorite Negro spiritual or sacred song. My mother chose “I Still Have Joy.” My three sisters, Kharma, Jennifer, and Ashley, chose “His Eye is On the Sparrow,” “My Lord, What a Morning,” and “Wade in the Water,” respectively. ..." (Julian Velasco)

Julian Velasco, saxophone
Winston Choi, piano

Julian Velasco
Saxophonist Julian Velasco is a Chicago-based soloist, collaborative artist, educator, and fierce advocate for contemporary arts, whose artistic vision aspires to reflect and celebrate the plurality of our society. Raised in the diverse musical culture of Los Angeles, his own musical background draws from classical, jazz, experimental, and popular styles whose influences inform his approach to all music.

Velasco has premiered over 50 new works, and has collaborated and performed with a wide range of artists including Ron Carter, Billy Childs, Jimmy Cobb, Nathalie Joachim, Christian McBride, Rufus Reid, PRISM Quartet, Zhou Tian, Rodney Whitaker, Cassie Wieland, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. From his recent fellowship at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, he was highlighted in the New York Times review, “As Bang on a Can Returns, a New Generation Rises.” Velasco has appeared in concert at festivals and concert series such as Bang on a Can’s Long Play Festival and LOUD Weekend, Chautauqua Summer Music Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, Ear Taxi Festival, CHIMEFest (Chicago IL), Lumina Festival (Wilmington NC), Princeton Sound Kitchen, Next Generation Jazz Festival (Monterey CA), Fringe Festival (Milwaukee WI), Tri-C Jazz Festival, and Pendulum New Music (Boulder CO).

Velasco is the Artistic Director and soprano saxophonist of ~Nois saxophone quartet. Known for their “truly innovative musicianship” and “raw creativity” (Cacophony Magazine), ~Nois has presented over 90 performances in 20 states at festivals such as Big Ears, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and the University of Chicago Presents Series. In demand as a guest artist and lecturer at universities across the nation, ~Nois has held residencies and given performances at over 30 institutions including University of Southern California, the University of Colorado - Boulder, the Manhattan School of Music, Princeton University and was the 2020/21 Don Michael Randel Ensemble in Residence at the University of Chicago. Their recent collaboration with Annika Socolofsky in the world premiere of her composition “I Tell You Me” was heralded by the Chicago Tribune as “grotesquely gorgeous… among the most captivating compositions heard the whole festival [Ear Taxi 2021]” and included in their “Chicago's Top 10 for classical music, opera and jazz that defined 2021”.

Velasco was presented in his orchestral debut at age 17 as a soloist with the South Coast Symphony. In the 2021/22 season, he presented the world premiere of James Aikman’s saxophone quartet concerto “Alarm!” along with PRISM Quartet and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. In the 2022/23 season, he will be presenting his Symphony Center concerto-debut performing Roberto Sierra’s “Concerto for Saxophones” with the Chicago Sinfonietta.

A Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellow in Classical Music, Velasco has garnered top prizes from organizations including Music Teachers National Association, Vandoren Emerging Artists, Yamaha Young Performing Artists, and the North American Saxophone Alliance. Velasco holds degrees from Northwestern University, where he is currently a doctoral candidate, and Michigan State University, where was he was one of the only students to receive degrees in both Classical and Jazz Performance concurrently. His teachers include James Barrera, Diego Rivera, Joseph Lulloff, and Taimur Sullivan. In 2021, Velasco was named the first-ever Cedille Records Emerging Artist. His debut solo album, “As We Are” will be releasing in August 2022 on Cedille Records, marking the first all-saxophone album on the label.

Booklet for As We Are