When Marrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs took the stage at the Parish, second in line on a stellar afternoon bill, she asked the crowd to pay its respects for Colin Stetson, the man who opened up the day of music on the NPR stage; "It's always really, really cool to see someone do the impossible."
And impossible it seemed, as Stetson wrestled with his two saxophones to produce enough sound for three or four people. Holding notes for seemingly interminable periods by cycling his breath in while he blew out (impossible thing one), Stetson managed to bellow out low baritone notes while layering complex fugues in the upper register on top (impossible thing two). Add onto that a sort of Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull sing-humming as he played (impossible thing three) and you had a single man on stage churning out long, elaborate, and breathtaking works of aural art. Stetson wasn't the only one gasping for breath at the end of it.
