The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian inventor of musical instruments and patented in France on June 28, 1846.
Sax patented 14 types of saxophones in total, split into two categories of seven instruments each, and ranging from sopranino to contrabass. The saxophone's ability to play technical passages easily like woodwinds and also project loudly like brass instruments led them to be included in military bands in France and elsewhere.
While it is assumed that Sax invented the instrument to provide military bands with a link between the higher woodwinds and brasses, the saxophone also was put to symphonic use by classical composers. Hector Berlioz wrote approvingly of the new instrument in 1842 and Georges Bizet and Jules Massenet also utilized the saxophone in their compositions.
When the saxophone was played by Etta Morgan at New York City's Olympic Theatre in 1876, it was little known at the time in the United States.
Coleman Hawkins joined Fletcher Henderson's jazz orchestra as a sideman in 1923. Before Hawkins, the tenor saxophone was a vaudeville novelty, played in a comical slap-tongue manner. Hawkins played the instrument with a full, strong sound. His performances on romping swing tunes such as "The Stampede" (1926), and on slow ballads such as "One Hour" (1929), altered the way the tenor saxophone was played. By 1930, Hawkins had laid the foundations for the tenor saxophone's pre-eminence as a jazz instrument, and established its basic vocabulary.
The saxophone was banned by the Nazis, condemned as "Judeo-Negroid."
Bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker's exciting alto saxophone flights won him the popular nickname of Bird.
Censors objected to an erotic saxophone solo played in the movie A Streetcar Named Desire, when Stanley (Marlon Brando) carried his beloved Stella (Kim Hunter) to the bedroom. The scene was deemed acceptable only after a piece with a French horn and strings replaced the sax solo. The sultry scene itself was unchanged.
David Bowie started playing the saxophone when he was 12 years old.
Bill Clinton excelled as a saxophone player in high school, even earning first chair in an Arkansas state band of students.
Geovanny Escalante, a Costa Rican saxophonist for the band Marfil, broke Kenny G’s world record for holding a single saxophone note in 1998. He held the note for 90 minutes and 45 seconds, nearly doubling Kenny G’s time.
Though it’s made of brass, the saxophone is a woodwind instrument because it’s played with a wooden reed.
The saxophone family contains the sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones.
The largest member of the saxophone family is the contrabass saxophone. Though it usually stands as large as 6’4”, it only weighs about 45 pounds
Here's a list of pop songs featuring a saxophone part.
Sources Compton's Encyclopedia, Europress Encyclopedia, Northern Star
Sax patented 14 types of saxophones in total, split into two categories of seven instruments each, and ranging from sopranino to contrabass. The saxophone's ability to play technical passages easily like woodwinds and also project loudly like brass instruments led them to be included in military bands in France and elsewhere.
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| Saxophone produced by Sax |
While it is assumed that Sax invented the instrument to provide military bands with a link between the higher woodwinds and brasses, the saxophone also was put to symphonic use by classical composers. Hector Berlioz wrote approvingly of the new instrument in 1842 and Georges Bizet and Jules Massenet also utilized the saxophone in their compositions.
When the saxophone was played by Etta Morgan at New York City's Olympic Theatre in 1876, it was little known at the time in the United States.
Coleman Hawkins joined Fletcher Henderson's jazz orchestra as a sideman in 1923. Before Hawkins, the tenor saxophone was a vaudeville novelty, played in a comical slap-tongue manner. Hawkins played the instrument with a full, strong sound. His performances on romping swing tunes such as "The Stampede" (1926), and on slow ballads such as "One Hour" (1929), altered the way the tenor saxophone was played. By 1930, Hawkins had laid the foundations for the tenor saxophone's pre-eminence as a jazz instrument, and established its basic vocabulary.
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| Coleman Hawkins, c. 1945 |
The saxophone was banned by the Nazis, condemned as "Judeo-Negroid."
Bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker's exciting alto saxophone flights won him the popular nickname of Bird.
Censors objected to an erotic saxophone solo played in the movie A Streetcar Named Desire, when Stanley (Marlon Brando) carried his beloved Stella (Kim Hunter) to the bedroom. The scene was deemed acceptable only after a piece with a French horn and strings replaced the sax solo. The sultry scene itself was unchanged.
David Bowie started playing the saxophone when he was 12 years old.
Bill Clinton excelled as a saxophone player in high school, even earning first chair in an Arkansas state band of students.
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| Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin 1994 |
Geovanny Escalante, a Costa Rican saxophonist for the band Marfil, broke Kenny G’s world record for holding a single saxophone note in 1998. He held the note for 90 minutes and 45 seconds, nearly doubling Kenny G’s time.
Though it’s made of brass, the saxophone is a woodwind instrument because it’s played with a wooden reed.
The saxophone family contains the sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones.
The largest member of the saxophone family is the contrabass saxophone. Though it usually stands as large as 6’4”, it only weighs about 45 pounds
Here's a list of pop songs featuring a saxophone part.
Sources Compton's Encyclopedia, Europress Encyclopedia, Northern Star
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