Once again Seizer is working with pianist Marc Copland – the consummate partner for this subtle world of sound. Copland’s impressionistic style, iridescent harmonics, unique sense of melancholy and connection with both the unwieldy and the wide-open – all of this perfectly compliments Seizer’s saxophone playing. Seizer is the master of the lean, sharply contoured tone – a sound that is nevertheless elastic and colorfully textured. It is a sound that can show up in many shades and moods: at one moment bright and glass-clear, in the next vulnerable and veiled, then once again quietly insistent. It’s no wonder that Marc Copland has observed that “you have to look for a long time before you will find a tone like Seizer’s”. You seldom find this mixture of introspection and strong presence – a combination that is intrinsic to Seizer’s style. Seizer’s sound never screams – it stands as a foundation to his music and with such a base, a musician has a myriad of possibilities. And what a large palette of textures Seizer has, especially in interplay with Copland. A good example is in the last minutes of the title piece when a four-tone motif is continually taken up and reworked. It show how exciting the spiraling re-invention of the seemingly same can be. Introspection is a special characteristic of Seizer and his music. It is implicit in the album’s title with its double entendre to reflect on. The phrase “for the time being” concerns the transience of time. “Time Being” is about the here and now, that limitless continuum of the ever-changing present – and this is where Seizer’s music lives and breaths. |