| What attracted you to the saxophone? I've been | | | | of the orchestra had been established for many years |
| asked that question many times. Well, the sound of | | | | and nobody wanted to add a sax section, imagine |
| course. Next to the human voice it's the most | | | | that... I know a lot of sax fans that wished it would |
| expressive instrument and the one that closest | | | | have happened differently, myself included! Sax |
| resembles the human voice. Like our voices the sax, | | | | became the first professor of saxophone at the Paris |
| or should I say the saxophonist is capable of producing | | | | Conservatory in 1858. Method books were written and |
| an extreme range of sounds from sad, haunting dark | | | | a few more composers were writing for the |
| tones to uplifting screams of laughter. | | | | instrument and finally in 1885 the first one was made in |
| It came from Belgium. | | | | the United States. |
| Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in 1842 making it | | | | America's first sax star; Rudy Wiedoeft. |
| one of the newest instruments. I've heard some | | | | There was a bit of a sax craze in America in the |
| people call it a brass instrument but although it's made | | | | early 1900's and a man who was partly responsible for |
| from a certain type of brass mixture, it uses a single | | | | it was the virtuoso Rudy Wiedoeft. Although not |
| reed on the mouthpiece to make the sound which puts | | | | widely known today he was very popular in his time. |
| it in the woodwind family, like the clarinet. Other | | | | He was an excellent saxophonist with classical training |
| woodwinds are the oboe, bassoon, and bagpipes, | | | | but recorded his own pop style, vaudeville, and novelty |
| these use double reeds. The recorder and flute are | | | | songs. Stylistically he was rooted in ragtime and |
| woodwinds as well but don't use reeds. | | | | classical, pre-jazz era. His saxes of choice were the |
| Adolph Sax drew up plans for 14 different types of | | | | alto and the C melody, which has been out of |
| saxophones. | | | | production since the early 1930's. |
| I don't know how far he got building them all but I've | | | | Now into the 1930's the classical saxophone had some |
| heard of 10 and I've actually seen 8. They are; | | | | well known players; Marcel Mule from France, Sigurd |
| sopranissimo, sopranino, soprano, alto, C melody, tenor, | | | | Rascher, German/American, and later the American |
| baritone, bass, contrabass, and subcontrabass. Some | | | | Eugene Rousseau. These guys were performing, |
| of these come in different shapes like the curved | | | | recording and having music composed for them. For |
| soprano and the straight tenor. The 4 most popular | | | | most classical saxophonists the alto was by far the |
| ones are soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone and these | | | | most popular choice. |
| are the voices that make up a saxophone quartet | | | | The saxophone didn't make it into the classical |
| Hard to imagine now but the saxophone didn't gain | | | | orchestra as a section but that didn't stop people from |
| instant popularity... quite the opposite. Mr. Sax | | | | writing and arranging for saxophone quartets... from |
| apparently worked hard to get his new invention to | | | | Bach to Bartok to Ellington. |
| composers and band leaders but the instrumentation | | | | Speaking of Ellington, it's time for...Part 2... |