Top Five Bass Sax Observations

“I wanted an electric train for Christmas but I got the saxophone instead.” ~ Clarence Clemons

The bass saxophone is one of the largest members of the saxophone family—larger than the more commonly encountered baritone saxophone. Only the contrabass sax is larger. It was the first type of saxophone presented to the public, when Adolphe Sax presented a bass saxophone in C at an exhibition in Brussels in 1841. The modern bass saxophone is a transposing instrument pitched in B♭, an octave below the tenor saxophone. The bass saxophone is not commonly used, although in the 1920s, it was used in some jazz recordings.

I have owned both a vintage Buescher and currently own and play an Eppelsheim bass sax. Having played every existing kind of sax except for the slide sax,  I have some observations to share with anyone considering purchasing and playing such a beastie that is the bass sax.

1. It’s frickin’ big: Talk about an elephant in the china shop, this sucker is big and heavy. Getting it to a gig and playing it is a big pain in the butt. You have to buy into the fact that if you are going to perform publicly you will need a big car, a cart for the large case, and the challenge of reading around the neck that is in front of your face.

2. No Music: There isn’t much written music for the instrument. Because of this, you are mostly doubling on the bass sax or you end up sitting in the band waiting for a chart to come up with a bass part. So now you are carrying two instruments. Or, as I have for my sax quintet, you will have to write or transpose a lot of music to create the music for this instrument.

3. Expensive: Good bass saxes tend to be expensive. You can plan on spending an average of $15,000 for a vintage bass sax and it will need some maintenance. For a modern Eppelsheim bass sax, you can expect to pay $25,000 and up depending upon adding extras. For example, my bass sax is keyed to low A and has a Venus de Milo engraving.

You might have to replace a case that is falling apart. That’s expensive too. You might end up looking for a mouthpiece that works for you. That’s even more money and we haven’t even talked about reeds yet. Some repair techs will not work on the behemoth.

4. No gigs: That’s right, there are very few gigs for a bass sax. Have you ever heard of a musician who made any serious money, year after year on a bass sax. I thought not.

5. The vintage thang: Most of the available bass saxes are vintage. When I owned the Buescher bass sax, I played with mouthpieces, reeds, and ligs trying to perfect the sound I produced. See, vintage bass saxes were built with baritone sax pads to save money. If you look at the modern Eppelsheim bass sax, you will noticed the bell pads are huge! That makes voicing easier. On the vintage horns, you had to use alternate fingerings for notes like the D2 to get a strong voicing. And the ergonomics on the old bass saxes meant that you really had to stretch those pinkies to play the thing. This is no longer necessary on the Eppelsheim.

All of that said, I really love the sound of the bass sax. It is resonate and full, and makes my back teeth rattle. For the true saxophone connoisseur, this is an instrument that you will want to have in your arsenal.  For those significant others who’s partners are hooked (aka addicted) to saxophones, my apologies for for sharing this sax porn article.

For more conversation about the bass sax consider joining the largest bass sax forum out there: Bass Sax Coop.

Photos: Microsoft Jumpin’ Jive Orchestra 2013

  

More photos of the Microsoft Jumpin’ Jive Orchestra from the  David Nadalin and Nadalin Photography.

Economic Pyramid

Reblogged from Creativeconflictwisdom's Blog:

An interesting poster from 1911 from the US Industrial Workers of the World or 'Wobblies', which seems strangely topical, along with the FDR quote, though, as usual, I post to provoke thought, not orthodoxy.

'These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten, the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic power...that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.' US President Franklin D Roosevelt 1932

Provocative indeed.

A Tourist in Seattle

“To some extent, Seattle remains a frontier metropolis, a place where people can experiment with their lives, and change and grow and make things happen.” ~ Tom Robbins

Dear tourist, we were talking about your trip here during our meeting today, and we have some ideas of things that we’d like to do while you’re here. But we also want some input from you about things you’d be interested in.

Things we thought might be fun to do:

One day (probably Monday), Jim will plan a group lunch. We’re thinking it would be fun to walk to Pike Place Market. It’s one of the oldest farmer’s markets in the U.S. There are *many* restaurants and cafes at the market, and it’s also interesting just to look at the different fruit/vegetable/meat/fish vendors to see what they’re selling. It’s about a 15-minute walk from the office. As long as it isn’t raining hard, we could walk there, wander around a little, eat lunch, and then walk back afterwards.

Jim hopes to take you to Tula’s Jazz Club, perhaps on the Monday evening, to hear some live music and have a meal. As it turns out, his jazz band is scheduled to play that evening, so you could hear someone you know.

Jim is thinking about options for Friday afternoon: some kind of team activity, but we’ll have to see how that works out. You might want to go off and do something by yourself, so feel free to tell us you’d like to reserve that last day for non-group activities.

But if you’d like to do a team activity, there are lots of options for interesting, relaxing things we could do as a team that would also allow you to see more of the Seattle area. For example, we could take the ferry across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. There are lots of little shops & restaurants near the ferry terminal. And then take the ferry back to Seattle. It’s a *beautiful* ferry ride, and you really get gorgeous views of the city from out on the water.

If you like Chinese food, it would be fun to go one of the days to the International District for a dim sum lunch.

Depending on your interests, there are things to see:

• If you’re interested in aviation, there’s a great tour at the Boeing factory in Everett where they build the 747, 767, 777, and 787 (http://www.boeing.com/commercial/tours/index.html). There’s also a very good aviation museum in Seattle: http://www.museumofflight.org/.
• If you’re interested in art, the Seattle Art Museum (http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/) and Seattle Asian Art Museum (http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/visitSAAM.asp) are great. There’s also a brand new Chihuly glass museum at Seattle Center (http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/).
• If you’re interested in food, there are countless fantastic restaurants in Seattle, and you’ll find that we’d love to go to them with you (we all seem to like to eat! J)
• If you’re interested in music or science-fiction, there’s the EMP (Experience Music Project): http://www.empmuseum.org/. The current main exhibit is about Jimi Hendrix.

Here’s a general link to lots of Seattle info: https://www.seattle.gov/visiting/

And a link to the Seattle Center which is where the Space Needle is, plus museums, etc.

And a link to a list of top 10 things to do in Seattle.

Let us know any thoughts you have about things you’d like to do, and we’ll get some things set up.

Picture credit for the market picture above goes to Rochelle on Flickr.

Viral Video Shows the Extent of U.S. Wealth Inequality

Think you know where the money is distributed in the US? Think again.

Mashable: The issue of wealth inequality across the United States is well known, but this video shows you the extent of that imbalance in dramatic and graphic fashion.

The video, which started going viral on Friday and whose traffic continues to climb on YouTube — reflects the facts as seen from many different sources. We present it without comment, letting you, our readers, be the judge.

Read more…

MJJO at the Jumpin’ Jive to Thrive dance 2013

Suzy joins me on tenor for this event. I *really* like performances where she can make it. Since she works nights, she isn’t always available.

The National Community Band 2013

“From childhood I was passionately fond of music and wanted to be a musician. I have no recollection of any real desire ever to be anything else.” ~ John Philip Sousa

Suzy and I will be performing in our third National Community Band concert. We have never been to Boston and really look forward to the trip. The other two times we went to Las Vegas and New Orleans.

The John Philip Sousa Foundation is sponsoring the event. The concert features the music that Sousa used all the time. And the director dresses up as Sousa and directs like Sousa. It is quite an experience to be in this all-star band made up of professional musicians and educators.

Suzy will be playing the clarinet and I the tenor sax this year. Getting the tenor sax on the plane is always an exercise filled with intrigue and potential pit falls. Here’s hoping my baby doesn’t end up in the baggage hold compartment of the plane.

My friends from Boston recommend the following attractions during any off time we have from practicing for the concert:

1. The Freedom Trail
2. An air conditioned oyster bar by the waterfront
3. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
4. The USS Constitution

   

Suzy is busy booking the flight, hotel room, and car rental. We will get the music sometime in April or May. This looks to be a very exciting trip and one that we are looking forward to.