If the Saxophone Didn't Exist We Would Have To Invent It
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If the Saxophone Didn't Exist We Would Have To Invent It
The bizarre life of Adolphe Sax
Paraphrasing Voltaire? Well, a jazz musician has no problem with that, we take on all comers! So let us examine the origin of the instrument that changed musical history, that became the very symbol of jazz, and that prompted notorious billionaire playboy Jorge Guinle to remark My only regret is that I wish I had studied the saxophone more seriously so that I could really say that I play it. *
Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax learned the craft of instrument-making at his father’s side. But his life was the very embodiment of the classic blues line “if it wasn’t for bad luck, I would’ve had no luck at all.” As a child Adolphe was famed in his birthplace of Dinant, on the banks of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, for surviving a rather large number of falls, burns, and accidental poisonings.
Jay Easton playing contrabass saxophone…to his left is a baritone saxophone, to his right, a soprano.
As a teenager he won recognition for his flute and clarinet designs and went on to study at the music conservatory in Brussels. In 1841 Sax moved to Paris to begin his own business, but the bad luck of his childhood stayed overhead, just like the dark clouds that followed Schleprock and Joe Btsfplk. Jealous rivals subjected him to continuous litigation, sapping his finances and his time, bankrupting him twice. He survived two attempts on his life, and a bout with cancer. They say that living well is the best revenge, but just in case, Sax invented the “Saxocannon,” a piece of weaponry that could fire a half-kiloton shell with a diameter of 11 yards, capable of leveling an entire city. Had he lived, perhaps he could have implemented strikes on Pope Pius X, Hitler, Stalin and the Ladies Home Journal, all of whom sent the saxophone to hell and its players to Siberia.
Schleprock, of the Flintstones. Is there any better name in all of cartoondom?
Sax's vision for the saxophone (he obtained the patent in 1846 after exhibiting his prototypes for several years) was that it would become the next member of the orchestral woodwind family. No longer would clarinets, oboes, flutes and bassoons have all the fun–the saxophone would revolutionize the orchestra with its distinctive tone! And revolutionize it did, but not in the way young Adolphe had intended.
Amongst the classical composers, Hector Berlioz was one of the few contemporaries of Sax who actually utilized the new instrument in his scores. Others paid lip service to it, but never wrote parts for it. Still others were downright opposed to it. Igor Stravinsky is said to have made fun of what he viewed as a pretender to the woodwind throne, referring to the saxophone as a “pink slimy worm.” But the worm could not be squashed. The instrument's unique qualities–the brass construction that gave it more projection than the other woodwinds, and the complete set of keys that trumped the 3-valved (or no-valved) brass instruments–made it an ideal addition to the military bands of the day. People would flock to hear these bands, and competitions between them were like today's sport contests. The French regimental bands were always outshone by their counterparts in Prussia and Austria until Sax convinced the top brass to adopt his saxhorns and saxophones to beef up their sound. The superb results spoke for themselves.
Lucy joining Ricky’s band for a number
The next big break for the saxophone came toward the end of Adolphe Sax's life. It was the beginning of the Jazz Age, with musicians returning from military service and forming civilian bands. The new “Ragtime” music used all the band instruments, including the saxophone. (By the way, it was not until later that the piano became identified with Ragtime–it started with bands. This straight from the mouth of my friend and mentor, the late Dr. Billy Taylor.) Sax’s fame as an instrument maker continued to grow. However, as my friend John La Barbara is fond of saying, “famous don’t pay the rent” and Sax died in poverty in 1894. For those who wish to visit, he is buried in Section 5, Avenue de Montebello, Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris. Bring flowers.
Adolphe on the erstwhile 200 franc Belgian note
Sax was dead. But long live the sax! The crown prince of the woodwind family soon could be found in bands in every major city. When Ragtime evolved into Dixieland and later Swing music, the saxophone was ready to become king. It was a staple in Vaudeville. As every style of jazz came into existence–Bebop, Cool, Fusion, Avant Garde, Afro-Cuban, Bossa Nova and more–the saxophone was always a major player on the scene.
The saxophone was not relegated to the jazz arena. Offshoots of jazz like Blues, Rock, Funk and Soul music also made good use of the instrument. Not only that, but classical composers eventually did begin to include the saxophone in their scores once in a while. Even Stravinsky (remember, the one who dissed the sax big time) wrote for it in his Ebony Suite, debuted in 1945 by Woody Herman’s legendary First Herd.
The saxophone made its way from Europe and the USA into the Near and Far East, South America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. (Its amazing journey, as well as the life of its inventor, is documented in Michael Segell’s book The Devil’s Horn.) It even traveled into space with astronaut Ron McNair (whose intended performance from Challenger mission STS-51-L was tragically prevented) and more recently with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who played it from the International Space Station for a live feed into the 2021 Olympic closing ceremonies in Tokyo.
Ron McNair playing saxophone aboard the Challenger. Source: NASA, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Ronald E. Mickens Collection
The fact that Adolphe Sax never lived to see the saxophone become one of the most popular instruments in the world is a lamentable fact, but not a unique one. Like many inventors, he was ahead of his time and he couldn't stick around for the world to catch up. He is commemorated on the old Belgian 200 franc note, unfortunately no longer in use since their adoption of the Euro. That the Belgian government saw fit to adorn one of their banknotes with the likeness of the inventor of the saxophone is testament to the high esteem in which he was held by his native country. In the States, we’re lucky to see John Philip Sousa on a postage stamp.
The original Adolphe Sax saxophones, inscribed with his name, can still be found occasionally in European pawn shops and second hand stores. I played one of them in Germany some years ago. Trust me, Sax’s original horns were a far cry from the excellently engineered modern saxophones of today. Indeed, the pinkish tinge of the brass and the less-than-perfect intonation of the original horns suggest how the derisive nickname “pink slimy worm” may have come about. Yet the potential of these early saxophones was evident. Today every band instrument manufacturer on the planet puts out not just one model, but a full line consisting of beginner, intermediate and professional level instruments.
Without a doubt, modern music would be vastly different without the voice of the saxophone. If Monsieur Sax hadn’t invented it, someone else surely would have. But would a sax by any other name sound as sweet?
* Larry Rohter, New York Times, March 6, 2004
Portions of this article originally appeared in the Fall 2018 edition of The Note
If the Saxophone Didn't Exist We Would Have To Invent It
Ravel and Debussy, whose lives overlapped with Sax, both wrote for the saxophone, but perhaps after Sax died.
Sax is one of the "3 famous Belgians who everyone thinks is French". The other 2 are Cesar Franck and Django Reinhardt.
I have a soft spot in my heart for the saxophone since I played clarinet for a while when a grasshopper. My teacher was a man named Alfred "Squeaky" Sculco who played trumpet. For some reason he recorded under a pseudonym when he backed up Peggy Lee on some of her early recordings.