Saxamaphone
For those instantly unsure about the title of today's post, I have not invented a new instrument; I am in fact going to be looking at the saxophone. I just happen to be using the Homer Simpson pronunciation. But then, you knew that already, I'm sure.
Last night Jarvis Cocker was amazing in Wellington - he owned the stage. And then, at one point, he made a joking half-apology for a song containing some use of the saxophone/saxamaphone. He introduced the song and referenced the dread that can be attached to this "conical-bored transposing musical instrument".
Jarvis even mentioned Mr G. Yes - Kenny G. This guy.
What is it about the sax that can create such fear; such revulsion? Is it just Kenny G? Surely not. Is it just Kenny G and the sax solos in Dire Straits songs? Surely not. Is it just Kenny G, Dire Straits and the song Simply the Best? Maybe...
How about this guy?
Tim Cappello not only played I Still Believe from the movie The Lost Boys, he also inflected the squawking squall of sax in the middle of We Don't Need Another Hero. We can link that back to Tina Turner (that was Cappello in that live clip of Simply the Best) and blame her perhaps? But if we're laying blame on Tina then we have to rope in Bruce Springsteen. I might be about to hand in my membership card to the E. Street Band Fanclub but I hate the music made by Clarence Clemons. His infernal honking has ruined many of Bruce's songs - and for all the claims that he is such a great showman and an integral part of the live show, I see (and sadly hear) a man who has fluked his way into a great gig by turgidly parping his saxamaphone way too often, tarnishing tracks left, right and centre.
But I am not a (total) saxamaphone hater.
One of my favourite albums of all time - ever - is John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. I can listen to this album every week and have done, pretty much, at least once a week, for the last 17 years of my life.
John Coltrane is one of my heroes. And so is Charlie Parker. I even suffered the potential slings and arrows of your criticism by posting a poem about Parker.
And the dreamy, wafting tones of Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young have meant a lot to me over the years. Sonny Rollins is one of my all-time favourites; as is Johnny Hodges for his fine, fine work with Duke Ellington.
The list could go on - I would definitely consider some of the early Ray Charles work with his own alto playing and the long-time service of David "Fathead" Newman. You could add Maceo Parker of course; Junior Walker and Louis Jordan.
And there it is. The realisation that I love the saxophone/saxamaphone when it is being played in jazz, in R'n'B, in soul and in some (but not all) blues music...I do not like the sax when it is being used to push pedestrian rock songs toward the six-minute mark with something that is essentially an annoying substitute for a guitar solo.
Honourable mentions within the canon that somehow get a pass are many of The Rolling Stones' tracks, usually cut with Bobby Keys - a legend who has played on so many classic albums.
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon also; particularly the wafting work on Us and Them and the perfect example of when a sax/guitar-duel does work on Money.
I'd also let Paul Simon off the hook too - but that's because he's using players like Michael Brecker; so he gets the same deal as the Stones. He's using a modicum of taste in his decision/s.
Give me the madness of John Zorn over the hackneyed lung-hacking of Clarence Clemons and Tim Cappello and the players they have influenced.
But still I have to say - the saxamaphone is an odd one. I can listen to Coltrane or David S. Ware or Oliver Lake and feel very inspired, feel like it is one of the best instruments for carrying a tune, for dominating an album or performance.
And then I can watch a solo musician at a wedding, or a local bar-room rock-blues combo and feel like someone has just jazzed in my face.
In the ultimate mad test of the saxophone - last weekend I was given a Kenny G album: the "classic" Breathless.
I played it - from slow, soft-porn start, to slow, wrist-slit end. I listened to the whole thing. In a moving vehicle (Kenny G apparently suffered for his art, and now I can say I have too).
For 75 minutes and 12 seconds Mr G played in muted tones; I stayed on the road. And somehow, miraculously, I stayed awake. I am still not sure why I did it - it didn't provide the pre-planned impetus to write this post (it's just a coincidence that Jarvis Cocker mentioned Kenny G; the way people do when they are thinking of the saxamaphone in a limp-wristed way).
So - I like some sax players; I dislike a lot of others. I think I mostly like the sax as a jazz instrument. I hate it as a rock instrument (overall). I love it as a soul/R'n'B flavour - and will accept it for some blues.
But what about you? Do you have some bad sax stories? Or is it good sax for you any time you get the horn? What are your favourite saxophone solos or songs? Do you have favourite players?
And who do we need to lay the blame on for the ruining of the sax? Is Kenny G to blame? Is Tina Turner in the firing line (albeit indirectly) - or is it Tim Cappello who deserves to cop it?
Disclaimer: Such is my Natalie Imbruglia feeling toward the saxamaphone I still own a copy of the Moonlight Sax compilation on CD! I doubt I'll ever listen to it again, but then, I have recently survived Kenny G.
Join Blog on the Tracks on Facebook
Sponsored links
Newest First
Oldest First
I think it comes from the cheesy and now cliche way that the sax is often used to create the melodic hook in pop music. As a brass player myself it is nice to poke fun at our single-reed colleagues, however they are (to my ears particularly the tenor) in the right hands one of the most versatile members of any horn section, capable of being either very tender and dark to searing and passionate leads. One horn player I always liked was Paul Desmond from his time with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
I think Bowie has done a lot of damage to the saxaphone's credibility- one listen to his infernal squawking on 'Here Comes The Night' is proof of that. Also, his playing on Lulu's version of 'The Man Who Sold The World' earns him a place in hell. And that's saying a lot for me who is a huge Bowie fan. Saying that, I'm pretty there has been some good use of the sax from the Dame- the intro to 'I Can't Explain' and the deliberate dissonance on 'Moss Garden'. The sax solo by Steve Elson on 'Modern Love' is great and, the solo on 'Walk On the Wild Side' by Ronnie Ross (Bowie's sax tutor) is sublime.
I think you'd have to blame the 80s in general, wouldn't you? Every song seems to have it in there somewhere. Personally, i like the saxamaphone as part of a band, a la Blues Brothers, but not on its own - esp not Kenny G styles... My parents have that Kenny G cd, which used to make me want to stab myself in the eye with a rusty fork when i was a kid, why you chose to endure it is beyond me.
I pretty much agree, not a huge Saxophone fan but when done right can make for an excellent song. Another Day by Dream Theater and Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty spring to mind as being fantastic songs that wouldn't be anywhere near as epic sans Saxophone.
The saxophone always makes me think of _Moondance_. Which is a great song :-)
Saxophone is my first instrument, and I am also a singer/songwriter, but I almost never use the saxophone in my pop songs for the exact reasons you have pointed out. Tina Turner, Kenny G and pretty much every other pop rock band of the 80s that tried to use a sax as a solo instrument destroyed its credibility in the art-form. As far as use of the sax in pop or rock outside of your stated exceptions goes, it has to stay part of a horn section. Solo is a no-go.
Garth Hudson from The Band played a good sax. When he comes in begind the guitar towards the end of "It Makes No Difference" on the Last Waltz soundtrack really lifts the song.
I think Tina Turner has a lot to answer for. That song from Mad Max sets my teeth on edge every time. Also Kenny G, frankly. To my ear, sax has a harsh edge that is incredibly irritating, but in the right context I enjoy it. Good examples are Us and Them, Money, Another Day (thanks, Random) and most Dire Straits applications.
Some 80's bands got it right - it's like Randon [#5] noted, depends on the song - Baker St (from the 70's] being one example given. From the 80's I'd like to add Quarterflash's 'Harden My Heart' as an exampke of the Saxophone used correctly in a pop song.
Wellington earthquake fear: No way in or out
Nightlife matriarch dies at show
Daily trivia quiz: February 17
Schoolgirl sex video man guilty
Horsham Downs meditation pyramid planned
Repairs force disabled red-zoner to sleep outdoors
Dazzling Adele silences critics
Marryatt skips council debate to play golf
Wellington earthquake fear: No way in or out
4.1 quake forces Jellie Park closures
Marryatt skips council debate to play golf
I'm no ticket scalper, says Mallard
Stadium to be ready for Crusaders
What? No mention at all of Rafe Ravenscroft's signature riff on Baker Street? Or the gloriously named Wesley McGoogan's top notch solo on Hazel O'Connor's Will You? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMbW5WENhxc) Or that one from Rick James's SuperFreak? I know they say the sax most closely resembles the human voice, but I haven't heard anyone wail like that for a while. My facourite sax story revolves around Finnerty, a bank clerk and the sax player in my first ever band. Blowing the sax puts quite a strain on parts of the body and we practised so hard for our first gig that Finnerty was in a weakened state. Getting overexcited on stage, he then blew not only his horn, but also a hernia, rendering him quite unfit for work. He gradually recovered, only to relapse at our next gig. This continued for some months. Finnerty would collapse with a hernia after a gig, recover in time for the next one, fall over again and so forth. After three months the band was approached by Harry Quaid, the bank manager. "Lads, would yez ever fire Finnerty from the band? Only we haven't had the use of him for 12 weeks and some of the other clerks are getting annoyed having to cover for him. We'll make it worth your while." So we told Finnerty to leave (for the good of his health, of course) and I bought my first Gibson with my share of the proceeds. Come to think of it, that was the only money we ever really made in that band.