Today we celebrate a Belgian who is neither a fictional private detective nor a waffle maker, but a man who has touched all our lives without exception. We salute Adolphe Sax (November 6, 1814 – February 7, 1894) on
INTERNATIONAL SAXOPHONE DAY!
Who’s your favorite sax man? Gerry Mulligan, John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, or James Brown’s funky foil, Maceo Parker?
There’s no sweeter, more emotionally responsive reed instrument than the saxophone, whether it’s an alto, tenor, baritone or the tiny soprano sax.
No way Adolphe Sax could have envisioned jazz or funk music, but who knows? Perhaps he was searching for a more soulful and expressive sound, and found it with the saxophone.
This conservatory-trained flutist and prolific instrument inventor lived and died before recording technology could have let us hear him play his horn, but he left us that bent brass reed instrument that is an essential ingredient to the soulful, the swinging, the rocking, the sweet and the cool. He was the very first Sax Man.
•Suggested Activities: Unsafe Sax, Anglo Sax, Yakety-Sax, Taking Five