We have had our first transcription addition in a while. Today’s newest download features a Pepper Adams solo on the jazz standard, “Alone Together”. It comes from the album, Critic’s Choice.
Thank you to Itay Raiten for sending this one in!
A while back I wrote a post marking the 11th year that I have been in charge of this site. I refer to it as curating because a lot of the content on the site comes from and features other places on the internet. I also encourage fellow baritone saxophonists to submit and provide content as much as possible. Quite a bit of the biographical information on this site pre-dates my time at the helm.
According the venerable Way Back Machine, also known as the internet archive, the earliest incarnation of this site was captured on January 29th, 1999 – Exactly 20 years ago today! So happy birthday JazzBariSax.com!
For fun you can check out what the site looked like when it started:
https://web.archive.org/web/19990129031403/http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/8586/
And here is what it looked like 11 years ago after I took it over and established it at the current domain, jazzbarisax.com:
https://web.archive.org/web/20091019002804/https://www.jazzbarisax.com/
The earliest I can remember visiting this website is sometime when I was in High School. I had great teachers, but I did not have access to a teacher that was a dedicated baritone saxophonist so this site really let me explore the world of the baritone, and I was thrilled to be able to take over and continue its work.
The site still receives hundreds of visits daily, and transcriptions from the repository have been downloaded over 200,000 times! I have been very gratified to learn and be told that many young baritone saxophonists enjoyed this site and learned about some of the greatest baritonists for the first time here. I don’t update daily or even weekly but I hope to keep this site alive, and available for all baritone saxophonists around the world to learn about the King of All Instruments.
Here’s to another 20 years,
Andrew Hadro
Curator, JazzBariSax.com
Pianist Randy Halberstadt has created an ambition new project. It is a set of directories online for professional musicians. He has it divided into different categories, such as vocalists, bass players, brass players, wind players etc. Each listing includes contact info for as well as basic info such as instruments played, genres, skills etc.
The purpose of these directories is to allow people to find musicians for gigs (or subbing possibilities), to get contact info for musicians they already know, or any of the other host of reasons you’d want to find musicians in a new area. There is no cost to peruse or to join the directories, so if you’d like to do so feel free to check them out here:
https://randyhalberstadt.com/directories/
I have covered Larry Dickson’s first, second, and third, installments in his 4 album project that mirrors the seasons. Today I am happy to say I’ve had a chance to enjoy the latest one from his quartet titled, “Winter Horizons”.
Similar to all of the other albums this album is very well done. The playing on the album is great, but what always stands out to me is Larry’s choice of songs and arrangements. There is an especially nice arrangement on Well, You Needn’t. On this disc there is a balanced and enjoyable mix of originals, standards, Thelonious Monk songs, and even a less-known but very enjoyable Billy Taylor original.
The format is again a chordless quartet. Being familiar with the baritone saxophone one might immediately think of the Mulligan/Chet Baker quartet. But this album uses alto saxophone instead of trumpet. This instrumentation might lead you to remember the “Two of a Mind” album that Mulligan did with Paul Desmond, but that’s not really the feeling here either. Rick Van Matre has a more modern slightly edged alto sax sound that contrasts nicely with Larry’s more mellow rich sound.
Bravo to Larry Dickson for another tasteful and enjoyable album.
For those looking to get a copy please contact Larry directly.
When I inherited and became curator of JazzBariSax.com over 10 years ago I kept the “style” delineations for all of the great baritone saxophonists in the roster. I don’t like pigeon-holing musicians since it over-simplifies their music in a distasteful way. Also, a lot of them play more than one style and span many eras. However, since this site serves a lot of new-comers to the baritone saxophone I have left them intact to make the journey a bit simpler and easier.
There is one style that was left out and I am ashamed to say I have been remiss in addingt until now. There is now a “Latin Jazz” category for this site. Currently there are only a few players there so far (the late Mario Rivera, and the excellent and still thriving Pete Miranda), but I hope to add more soon.
-Andrew Hadro
PS – I also added a page for jazz baritonist George Barrow. An unknown, but often heard baritone saxophonist with an incredible discography – perhaps most notably splitting baritone duties with Danny Bank on the famous Oliver Nelson Album, Blues and the Abstract Truth.
I was very pleased to see two articles about Hamiet Bluiett in this month’s DownBeat magazine. They discuss his life, his work, his music, and his extreme dedication to the baritone saxophone and belief that it is an under-utilized instrument with lots of potential.
Pick up a copy to read these excellent articles (or download them here and here.) This month’s issue also features the reader’s polls, congratulations again to Gary Smulyan for topping the list.
NYC based baritone saxophonists, Eden Bareket has released his second album, again featuring his trio with bass and drums/percussion (read about the first album here.)
Eden has a very interesting approach to the baritone, and often shares the unusual methods for practicing. He is especially adept at using the upper altissimo range of the baritone, often playing alto or trumpet parts at pitch.
The new album is a very playful group of original songs. He has a robust sound, but a fairly gentle approach to playing. There’s no lack of variety on the album despite not including a chordal instrument. This time around Eden used some non-standard saxophone sounds (key clicks, overtone rolls) to create new sounds in a very listenable way.
I thoroughly enjoyed his first album, and have really enjoyed the second one so far as well. You can stream his album on Spotify, Apple Music, or purchase it directly from Fresh Sound Records.
As of this week it has been 11 years since I took over and launched the current site as jazzbarisax.com!
Just for fun you can have a look at the ‘vintage’ site from 2008 – courtesy of the Way Back Machine internet archive.
For even more fun check out the original Geocities site!
Here’s to another 11 years,
Andrew Hadro, Curator of JazzBariSax.com
This review is for a product that I don’t think will appeal to all baritonists, but it is certainly a unique product and not something seen before so worth checking out.
Many, if not most baritonists these days, use a harness or at the very least a neck strap that provides a lot of support. Neck straps and harnesses have come a long way in the last 10 years, with many new options and systems out there. For some people though these aren’t an option due to extreme back issues or other problems.
There are a few modern baritone saxophones that include an integrated peg (similar to bass clarinets), although none of the major or popular brands do. In the past baritonists that didn’t want to use a neck strap could get a Hamilton style stand with a part that sort of bolted to the mid bell section of the horn that could be taken on and off a sturdy stand, and more importantly adjusted so it could be played while sitting without any weight being on the player.
A new product from Australia offers a new option for the players out there that are looking for an alternative to neck straps or are unable to use them. The SaxSupport sax stand is a light-weight telescoping stand made to hold the weight of the saxophone in a similar way to a bass clarinet peg would. The stand reminds me very much of a monopod camera stand, similar type latches with multi-tired adjust-ability.
The materials seems to be high grade sturdy plastic with some metal hardware in the important places. The locks have a ‘cam-lock’ system with adjustable screws to adjust tension. The pole also has numerical markings to get the same precise length desired for different situations (sitting vs standing). A nice rubber bottom of the ‘peg’ keeps the stand from sliding too much. The top portion of the stand is covered in a rough velcro – this is the area that is made to connect to the horn.
The main issue I have with the stand and I think what will cause many people to hesitate is the manner in which the stand connects to the horn. Included with the stand are two narrower strips of velcro and one long wide strip with an adhesive on the back. The wide strip of velcro is made to be placed vertically on the bow/bell portion of the saxophone. The SaxSupport stand velcro will adhere to this strip and the two narrower strips of velcro are made to go around the bell and be tightened similar to horizontal belts.
When testing out the stand I did not use the glue back to adhere the wide strip to my horn. I was concerned with applying and adhesive strip and removing it on my horn and whether that would damage the lacquer, especially as the lacquer on my vintage horn is already missing in places. The maker of the stand could not provide exact details about the type of adhesive used in the backing. However he does provide pictures on his website of having removed the velcro after a year on his horn. With some glue removal solution it looks like there were no permanent marks. I imagine more modern horns with complete lacquer will be less at risk, but I think anytime you are attaching something to your horn, especially when using it to hold the horn you can expect some abrasion or permanent marking.
I was able to get the stand to hold the weight of the horn with a simple friction fit, using the velcro and the two thin strips very tightly clasped around the bell and the stand. It adjusted nicely, and while it felt a little strange as it was a different playing angle, it could certainly be adapted to. The maker of the stand recommends using a neck strap or harness in addition to the stand and I think that’s a wise precaution.
One additional consideration is that the shape of the bell and bow on a Low A baritone is quite different than that of a low Bb baritone, especially a Conn like my own. The low Bb bells can be curved almost the majority of the bell, whereas low A horns have a much longer section that is pretty much straight. This makes the SaxSupport stand much more compatible with a low A horn rather than a low Bb horn, though by experimenting with placement I think you could still make the system work.
My honest perception of this product is that I don’t think most players really need it, or will be willing to adhere/glue a velcro strip to their horn to use it. However, for the few people that really can’t use a neckstrap or harness this product could be the difference between never playing the baritone again or continuing to enjoy the king of all horns. Aside from the issues I have with the connection to the horn and bell the stand seems very well designed and thought out. It should be noted that this stand could theoretically be used for any of the saxophones.
Check out the promotional video below.
The SaxSupport stand is $89. You can order one and see all of the details over at the website.
The latest transcription added to the repository is another from the great Pepper Adams. This time from a Freddie Hubbard album titled, Groovy! The song is Number Five.
You can download the newest transcription over on the transcription page.
A big thank you to Noah Pettibon for sending this one in.