A Real Buster is a multimedia work for tenor saxophone, live electronics, and video that reflects on Buster Keaton’s legacy as a comic actor and as a filmmaker. The name Buster, given to him by Harry Houdini, referred to his extreme resilience to pain, which is manifest in his dangerous stunts featured in his movies.
To be premiered at the Kairos Multimeda Concert on April 2, 2024 by Drew Hosler at the Shoolroy Theatre, College of Wooster.
Tektōn, the etymological basis of the word tectonic, is the Greek word for carpenter or builder. The jagged nature that begins the work mixes with more flowing sections that brought to mind the formation of volcanoes through massive force and molten rock, due largely to underlying action in tectonic plates. However, the word “tektōn” suggests an overarching craftsmanship to such chaotic landmarks, paralleling the construction and contrast between the erratic and the ordered in this piece.
April 9, 2019 by the UMKC Sax Choir for the 2019 UMKC Co[mp]llaboration at Californos, KCMO.