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No matter what the project is, when
these two are doing it, it’s fun.
Always a blast. Some
history: Eric Behrends was playing the
woodwind chair [alto, soprano, and baritone saxophones, clarinet and
flute] in the touring production of the Broadway musical
‘Swing!’. In Minneapolis Sean Harkness joined the tour as guitarist [jazz
box, strat, and lap steel] and was stuck sharing hotel rooms with
the crazy young saxophonist. The
two became instant friends. Each week found them in a new city
and they would explore all of the blues and jazz clubs searching for
other fun people to jam with. It
was easier for the saxophone to sit in because he could just take it out
and play on the side of the stage, and of course as soon as they heard
him they’d pull him up and give him a mic.
Guitarists are harder to convince that they should give up their
axe for a song or two, but there are still a few nice people out there
in the world. This
adventure continued all across America for 6 months, and then to Japan
for 2 months. Upon return to New York the two
began a musical collaboration that would come to be called
‘Saxitar’. In some
remote dialect of the English language this supposedly means ‘sax and
more’. Sometimes the
‘more’ would be just a guitar, sometimes a full band. Occasionally
the two perform as a duo, with Harkness laying down the entire rhythm
section on one guitar and Eric offering up his signature bold phrasing
on the alto sax. Other
times they will perform with a full rhythm section, such as their every
Wednesday night residency at the club Coda
on 34th street. Sean Harkness has composed,
arranged, and performed many releases on the Windham Hill (Sony/BMG)
label and continues to search for new and more compelling melodies every
day. Along the way he
discovered that Eric could interpret and present these melodies even
better than what he heard in his head.
Each time a new song gets fleshed out in the home studio,
there’s a track (or two or three) for Eric to work his magic.
The ‘news and songs’ page contains some of their favorite
results of those efforts. Aside from composing, Sean also
enjoys to rearrange well-known songs.
Anything from old jazz standards like ‘Softly, As In A Morning
Sunrise’ and ‘My Favorite Things’ to contemporary hits from John
Mayer or Norah Jones take on new life with Harkness’ characteristic
harmonic and rhythmic remedies. As
usual, Eric intuitively knows just what to do with these arrangements. Presently the two are preparing to
record a full length CD of their compositions (and maybe a couple
arrangements of known songs) with Jonathan Mover on drums at his world
famous Skyline Studios in New York City.
From there it will be all about promoting the new product and
they will be back out touring – this time performing their own music! And of course any self-respecting blurb about a musician would never be complete without the requisite name-dropping: Sean Harkness
has performed and recorded with: Tuck & Patti, Will Ackerman, Liz Story, Michael Manring, Jim Brickman, Jimmy Norman, Paul McCandliss, David Arkenstone, Lisa Lynne, Bobby Sherman; shared stages with: Odetta, Louden Wainwright III, Richie Havens, Alex Bugnon, Elements, Dave Samuels; appeared on compilation recordings
with: Paco De Lucia, Michael Hedges, Russ Freeman, Snuffy Walden,
Alex de Grassi, Vicente Amigo, Jay Beckenstien, and George Winston. Eric Behrends has performed and/or recorded with: Hiram Bullock, Randy Brecker, The Rolling Stones, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, The Dave Matthews Band, Prince, Etta James, and Phoebe Snow. |
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