Independent Artist Magazine August/September 2013 | Page 40

Odd Men Out

Odd Men Out is a versatile ensemble that performs a wide variety of musical compositions with the saxophone duo always at the core of it all. The origins of the group can be traced back to Pittsburgh in the year 2000, where Chris Hemingway and Darryl Yokley met at Duquesne University. The two played in a variety of ensembles together until 2004, when Darryl left Pittsburgh to pursue his Masters at Michigan State University. In 2006, Chris and Tim Adams, former principal timpanist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, came to Michigan to perform for Darryl’ s graduate recital. The trio performed a four-movement original composition by Yokley, the subject of the piece being the sparseness of African-Americans in classical music. The piece all too well served as a true representation of each of the performers and would be the inspiration for the duo’ s ensemble name, Odd Men Out, years later. Also performed on this recital was the Concert Piece For Two Alto Saxophones by Paul Hindemith, a standard in the classical saxophone repertoire. The music played that day elevated the dynamic of the recital and afterwards music was written and plans were made to form a professional ensemble. However, due to the rigors of individual careers and proximity, it would be three years before the ensemble would come together again.

In 2009, Darryl and Chris moved to New York together and started playing as a duo while also pursuing individual jazz careers. What started out as sight-reading practice while enjoying the weather in Central Park soon turned into an en-

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