Murder and Saxophones: Adolphe Sax

[@joelongardner1571]

As a Jazz saxophone professor, and long time fan of The History Guy, thanks for covering the saxophone.

[@j.dragon651]

Thank you for your service.

[@robertsmith5744]

Buy a Bass Clarinet, the kid sitting behind me in band class played one, it sounded Great.

[@hezigler]

Just another pro/amateur saxophonist who mostly plays charity gigs now. But a lifelong fan of much music, but most certainly, Jazz saxophone. My main horn since discovery in a pawnshop in the 20th century is a 1949 vintage alto Buescher 400 Top Hat and Cane model. Sounds even better than it looks, but it handles like a truck compared to modern sax ergonomics. Meyer mouthpieces, usually 5M. A good reed is hard to find...

[@drewzero1]

I played saxophone in school for about 10 years before starting to learn clarinet. It always felt to me like Sax "fixed" a lot of things that were annoying about the clarinet, and I was thankful to him for it.

[@davidbois2605]

wow the mere notion of going from *saxophone first* and / but *then* ?! to clarinet?!! fully blows my grey matter gaskets hahahahaha waaaaay back? -- me = geezerdom nascence; this here recall's from my high school era -- specifically: early 1980s jazz camp -- whereat i'd once tried [and TOTALLY face-planted] to have a hack at attempting to double on bass clarinet, coming to it from tenor [which, as a kid, i really had come to play quite well...] anyhow *that* horn?! the bass clarinet?! it vexed the snot outta me and damn nearly exhausted my entire store of will-to-live. as a 16 year old. [whaddaya MEAN it's not an "*octave* key"?! same reed but ALIEN embouchure / mpc.? ... etc.] mine was a truly miserable have-a-go-at-it. glad to have tried; it left me me with WAY more respect for clarinetists. ]

[@markhiggins8315]

Eric Dolphy was extremely fluent on Alto sax, flute and bass clarinet. Great musician.

[@victoriaeads6126]

My uncle is an accomplished saxophone player, he was once invited to play with Steely Dan. I'm going to share this with him, I think he'd appreciate the history 😀💙

[@gfghjfgfghfj]

Pete Christlieb?

[@excrono]

@@victoriaeads6126 Session musicians need more recognition.

[@eandmjustice]

Another artifact of Adolf Sax's genius is the system of wind instrument notation. They are mostly in two keys, Bb and Eb. This means that once the finger patterns are learned on one instrument they can be used in all the others in that family. That applies to valved brass instruments ( trumpet-cornets, altohorns, euphoniums, and tubas) and also saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass) This system was propagated through military bands across Europe and the UK (for it's inherent simplicity for the players) and spread around the world and is still used today.

[@marktyler3381]

Didn't know that

[@mdcampbell7360]

It's hard to imagine modern music without the saxophone.

[@jimross7648]

I ended up in Dinant earlier this year. It is a lovely city. I was puzzled why there were saxophone statues all over and learned that this was the birth place of the instruments inventor. However, I learned more about him and his invention in this video. It is truly, History That Deserves To Be Remembered

[@rleague685]

Saxophone. Because volume ensures quality! 😁👍

[@barvdw]

It's a lovely little town, but boy, they won't let you forget their most famous son, the streets are literally lined with saxophones.

[@charlienyc1]

​@@barvdwThat doesn't sound bad at all! 🎷🎷

[@davidsigalow7349]

"You can recognize when a true genius appears, as all of the dunces will be in a confederacy against him."

[@BanknoteDen]

I first learned about Adolphe Sax when i saw the Belgian banknote commemorating him and his instrument. It's was amazing to me that sommany people hated him and his instrument without even knowing him or having heard the saxophone. My favorite story is when he agreed to play his sa. In competition with another musician, but when his competitor took the stage, he had to admit he didn't know how to play the instrument. Such amazing efforts by so many to discredit the man for no real reason other than to be mean. Thanks for the video!

[@stacycentral]

Max Raabe's Palast Orchester, which features German and American dance music of the 1920s and 1930s, often employs a contrabass saxophone. Most of these weigh in at 20kg and 1.9m. While in the Clarksville (TN) high school band around 1969, our lead clarinetist discovered a sarrusophone buried in a music storage room. Evidently, Gautrot, a Frenchman, invented it to compete with Saxe. As a EEb instrument, it was the uncontested low register champion for the woodwinds.

[@gregscott989]

I confess that I am a sax player...so take this with a grain of sax. ;-) I think some of the motivation for making the saxophone is that it can be considerably louder than a clarinet. It is a conical bore instrument as opposed to the more cylindrical bore of the clarinet. Plus being made out of brass, it is more resonant than the clarinet. In a time before PA systems, bands could get a better balance between reeds and brass with fewer players.

[@THall-vi8cp]

Could be part of it, though flugelhorns (also a saxhorn) are very conical, much more so than trumpets, and a section of flugels would be absoutely dominated by trumpets in a contest of volume and carrying power. I wonder if mouthpiece angle also has a lot to do with it, at least for clarinet. Whenever I hear clarinetists play with their instruments at closer to a perpendicular angle (relative to their embochures) they invariably sound not just louder, but much reedier and brighter. I'm not sure how much mouthpiece internal designs play a part. I know the effects for brass players (being a trumpet player myself), but I've not looked too much into woodwind designs.

[@kevinmhadley]

Where would the blues and jazz be without this guy

[@johnwahannah2385]

Wrong. Where would the sax be without the great Jazz and Blues men and women. Playing in circuses until Africans got hold of it.

[@johnwahannah2385]

No! Where would the saxophone be without the Jazz and Blues men and women who made that instrument into what it is today. Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and many others gave that instrument it's modern sound. The sound of the Black men. They had a way of making their own mouth pieces and reeds to reproduce the sound of their souls. The manufacturers copied these ideas. When l got my first sax, the man in the shop asked me if l wanted a thin honky sound or a black sound.

[@dinahnicest6525]

Sax, drums and Rock and Roll!

[@danawinsor1380]

Tada boom!

[@excrono]

I didn’t get there this morning, perfect!

[@thexplaner6237]

Ya forgot violins.

[@pigalleycatemanresu7321]

@@thexplaner6237 I know it's not very original, but when I was at University, we had a funk jazz combo called Sax and Violins. Come to think of it, didn't make much sense, as I was the only violinist in the band! If I had had good lungs, I would have played the saxophone.

[@annegoodreau4925]

I knew Sax invented the saxophone, but knew nothing about the rest. Thank you, History Guy!

[@StevenDietrich-k2w]

Either Sax was the unluckiest person in the world, at least in his youth, or he was the world's biggest klutz.

[@j.dragon651]

You could turn that around and say he was one of the luckiest kids alive or he would have been dead at a young age?

[@MarkMcCluney]

He sounds to me like he was fabulously lucky. Every time he had a life-threatening disaster someone leapt to his rescue.

[@tinkerstrade3553]

Death must reluctantly defer to Destiny in the stream of time. So it has always been.

[@patrickbelongea6896]

"Most of his siblings died young." I think he just had bad parents.

[@BCUMF03]

I do truly speculate that the frequent bonks on his head were intrumental ( pun not intended) in helping to form correct connections and subsequently facilitate his creative genius.

[@mr88cet]

I played bassoon back (meaning waaaaay back!) in high school, and I’m reviving that and the contrabassoon now. However, in the meantime, I played all of the saxes (in classical style, BTW). One thing I never fully appreciated about Sax and the Saxophone until rebooting my bassoonery recently: The fact that saxophones are a true family, and especially in that all pitches of saxophone use the same fingerings (other than a few rare nuances), *_was absolutely revolutionary_* ! That became obvious when I finally got a chance to understand the contrabassoon: I promptly discovered that, although the bassoon and contrabassoon have essentially the same key layout, their fingerings are quite different! Apparently William Heckel “didn’t get the memo,” so to speak, until he invented the Heckelphone. I’m glad you made a point to mention Sax having invented the modern bass clarinet, or at least the proverbial “blueprint” for it - the basis for modern bass clarinets at least. That’s a way-too-often overlooked contribution!

[@stratfanstl]

You missed a golden opportunity for click bait on this video. You could have termed it "A Real-Life Tale of Sax and Violence."

[@charmcitytoe]

Sounds like Young Sax, was the very first actual G.O.A.T. I am very much the musician I am today because of his work. (Or suffering)? What a fitting tribute, thank you!

[@jarrettplonka707]

This was fantastic! As a former band nerd, I knew almost none of this, and this story has so much drama and intrigue. I hope Mr. Saxe would be pleased with how the saxophone turned out.

[@Lantanana]

Wow, who would think being an instrument designer and builder could be so dangerous!

[@maryd9331]

I've always like saxophone music. So much good stuff in the '40s and '50s, in both pop and rock 'n roll music.

[@excrono]

@@maryd9331 50/60s big band started to incorporate the sax as well to effect. There is one legendary solo in particular that I would play for Adolphe Sax to show him the good his invention would bring to the world.

[@maryd9331]

@excrono I agree! I include big band in American pop music. 😊

[@goodun2974]

@@maryd9331 , jazz, Dixieland, swing, blues, R&B, rock, pop.....the saxophone has found a place in all of them.

[@kesmarn]

Kudos to the musician who played "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" on the sax! Nice job!

[@124marsh]

I was stationed in Belgium in 1984-85 and saxes Home was converted into a bar.

[@goodun2974]

I'll bet that place was really *honking* at midnight!

[@124marsh]

@ not really, in my day it was kind of a subdued place had a couple pianos in it. It was all about relax and chill 😁 we gave it the nickname” jazz bar “when talking with our Belgian friends

[@goodun2974]

@124marsh , I was making a joke that the place should have been honking like a loud baritone sax!

[@124marsh]

ok👍😁

[@RetiredSailor60]

Thanks for your service...

[@guyh.4553]

I did not realize how relatively "young" most of our instruments are. Good topic!

[@mattgeorge90]

Always good to start the day off with the History Guy!

[@bobcoats2708]

Thank you, Lance. Sax’s was an amazing and tragic story. I’m impressed by the amount of detail you and your team were able to find and present.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Any song that opens with a sax break is one I'll buy!

[@charlesdudek7713]

"Harden My Heart" by Quarterflash comes to mind.

[@goodun2974]

@@charlesdudek7713 , Harden my Heart is a bit too middle of the road for me. Turn the Page by Bob Seger might be a better choice. In the 1970s the kings of horn driven R&B and rock were undoubtedly Chicago (Transit Authority), and Blood Sweat and Tears. Rare Earth as well.

[@charlesdudek7713]

@goodun2974 👍

[@goodun2974]

@@charlesdudek7713 , if you wanna hear a great sax-driven Rock and Roll song, try "Tear Stained Letter" by guitarist Richard Thompson. The Live in Providence version, which you can find on KZbin, is phenomenal.

[@goodun2974]

@@capt.bart.roberts4975 ps, if it opens with a sax, that's not a break, its the main melody! A "break" would be in the *middle* if the song! A song "with a funky break" as Springsteen put it.

[@rwesenberg]

An excellent video. So often, genius is a blessing to all but the genius.

[@goodun2974]

@@rwesenberg , and yet, from the 1920's to the 1950's, Paris was thrilled by jazz music (except during the Vichy occupational government) that was often saxophone-driven.

[@rwesenberg]

@@goodun2974 I have played saxophone for nearly 60 years. I own a 50 year old Buffet SDA and it is to me the most valuable thing I own. Sax benefitted me, but his genuis got him a beating.

[@SteveDave29]

Well said

[@therealerictatkinson8311]

You can say that again

[@wsutorch]

The sax and the tuba were both developed at the same time because there wasn't a bass voice strong enough for large ensembles. The Saxophone was the frist instrument that was invented, not developed over time.

[@berniemarkley]

As a musician and someone who played the sax in his youth, i loved this historical piece!!

[@scottrichards3587]

I've always wondered why his middle C key sax, pitched between alto and tenor saxes, did not become more popular. Unique in that same key as piano sheet music.

[@garymickus6412]

I agree. Puzzled by its lack of popularity. However some fine sax players Like Frankie Trambauer played it with the great cornet master Bix Beiderbecke. Recommend listening to these artists. (I apologize for my misspelling their names)

[@donl9571]

Military bands played instruments in Bb and Eb, so there was always a market for instruments and music in these keys. The C instrument was mainly for amateurs.

[@drzarkov39]

Before the popularity of radio and the phonograph, families entertained themselves playing sheet music written generally in the key of C. During that time, the C Melody sax was the most popular sax for the average family. Or so I've been told.

[@cameronpfiffner3415]

I’m pretty sure that Sonny Stitt played the C melody on at least one recording I have, judging from its range and timbre, although it’s not mentioned on the album cover. He slays on it, as you would expect.

[@garymickus6412]

@ Can you identify the recording ? Love to hear it.

[@charlienyc1]

Wow, I hadn't realized he perfected the bass clarinet. Very cool. From a saxophonist of 40+ years, thanks for the great video!

[@robertjensen1438]

What's the difference between a saxophone and a chainsaw? You can tune a chainsaw. My brother told me he made a saxophone out of trout. Sounded fishy to me.

[@goodun2974]

The History Guy, being possessed of a reedy tenor, has the perfect voice to narrate this video. 😉

[@tykeorama9898]

Congratulations on being a dad!

[@cameronpfiffner3415]

Great post! I’ve been fascinated by Sax for years, and play soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxes. Sax’s pugnacious spirit seems to imbue the saxophone in particular, and players on the jazz scene have often throughout the music’s history challenged each other to musical duels just as Sax did with people who cast aspersions on the quality of his instruments. Your voiceover narration reminds me of Bill Conrad’s narration of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle- high praise!

[@mikeperry8598]

I think I'll go listen to Baker Street right now.

[@goodun2974]

Ugh; middle-of-the-road 80's easy listening. Better to listen to Rafferty's earlier band Stealers Wheel while watching the " Stuck in the middle with you" scene from "Reservoir Dogs".😳😉

[@bobair2]

​@@goodun2974you are off because Baker Street is a 1970s song and an excellent one at that as is Lou Reed's Walk on the Wildside .

[@goodun2974]

@@bobair2 , Walk on the Wild Side has an edge to it ---- primarily due to the lyrics ---- that Jerry Rafferty's song lacks. I'd suggest Bob Seger's Turn the Page instead. Rafferty was an alcoholic and a bit of a creep by the way; chosen to produce Richard and Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights record, he was drinking scotch at 10 AM and trying to put the moves on Linda rather than making any headway at producing a record (which ended up being re-recorded with another producer). If you want to hear some wild sax playing try Thompson's song "Tearstained Letter" from his first solo record Hand of Kindness. I don't recall who plays the saxophone but it's wilder even than Thompson's stellar guitar playing. As it turned out, Saxophones pair quite well with Fender Telecaster guitars (a revolutionary and oft maligned instrument in it's youth), as Danny Gatton's "Pretty Blue" and his cover of "Harlem Nocture" show; and yet again on Arlen Roth's "Laughing At the Blues" where the sax and volume-swept Tele do a call-and-answer that meshes so well it's hard to tell which is which.

[@dawnreneegmail]

Personally, Rafferty's 'Get It Right Next Time's" screamin' sax a rallying cry for my youth💁🏼‍♀️‼️

[@bobair2]

@@goodun2974 I did say Baker Street was made in the 1970s not the mid 80s and the unneeded info about Rafferty has zero to do with his music as I hear it.

[@thecliffdweller1212]

Thank you for this informative history. As a fan of both classical and pop music I have always been aware of schism in the music cannon that is rooted in the orchestra and foreswears the saxophone as an instrument of the devil. This gives shape and clarity to what the saxophone means to music. Sax was clearly a humunclous of imperial aristocracy. His music and the instruments that music was played on were all a contrivance of aristocratic benefactors and anonymous family "loans." Sax was truly an innovator of the highest order who was elevated by a movement that hoped to created a new French pattern for the orchestra of the future, even if they had to invent new instruments to play it on.

[@TheJustineJones]

As a saxophone player , thank you for this , what is really amazing is that 100 years after his death, Adolphs instruments have given a voice to the women who play them now, he invented them in a time that women were not allowed to be professional musicians...His instrument has ben a vehicle for human empowerment ...over the last 100 years, and has shaped the future of music in ways that he would never have imagined ...thank you for this Homage. Think of all the amazing saxophone players in the world that ever existed and the joy , love and light in music they have brought to the world, due to this mans invention. Gold

[@JesseOaks-ef9xn]

There are a number of Saxophone solos in music. I know of several bands that feature the saxophone. My favorite marching bands is a high school band from Japan and it will be in this coming Rose Parade in Pasadena.

[@tombearclaw]

How did this unlucky guy somehow manage to avoid pirates for his whole life

[@dawnreneegmail]

😂

[@j.dragon651]

That my friend, is a question for the history guy!

[@Pygar2]

No doubt they copied his designs... piracy!

[@CTSpeed413]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@Pygar2 @tombearclaw @j.dragon651 It looks like today, Selmer is the most copied, quite possibly followed by Yanagisawah. I can’t really back this up, other than my own personal experience, something that some might call anecdotal evidence. Hard to believe so much hate towards my personal favorite instrument!!! Extremely interesting story.

[@Jeff-si7ni]

I lived near Dinant for a while. I knew that Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, was from there. But I never imagined that the story could be very interesting. Thank you for proving me wrong!

[@ljbrookens]

Love your musical ending😊

[@willjayne793]

I can’t help but imagine a film about a jazz-hating time traveler DESPERATELY trying to kill Sax over the course of his life, and failing in increasingly bizarre ways each time…

[@katherinelovett9239]

Well, that's me, off to find a book on the saxophone wars, and a biography of Adolphe Sax. I love finding new info to research🎉

[@daigreatcoat44]

There's a biography, by Wally Horwood, which is quite hard to find. I think it's the only biography. I suspect that it was self-published, and that no-one has tried to reprint it.

[@victorkreig6089]

@@daigreatcoat44 literally just bought a hardback on amazon for $40, the paperbacks are quite expensive most likely due to the low print yield

[@brucewallace3860]

Visited the Brussels musical instrument museum (strong recommendation!) where they had an extensive display of - you guessed it! - saxaphones. To their credit, the museum gives an objective view of Adolphe Sax’s career, including his hits and misses.

[@SirKenchalot]

Wow, an amazing story, thanks Lance! Merry Christmas!

[@j.dragon651]

Sax was king in the 50's in R&R no doubt. I used to introduce our sax player as "Mean Gene, the Sax Machine" and he could play a mean machine.

[@michaelshort7472]

With all of the hundreds of History Guy videos I've seen, I didn't expect to even hear the word "ophicleide" during an episode. Good coverage on this subject! I have to nit-pick, though - as a professional tubist (we tuba players don't care for "tubaist"), we pronounce the word "offa-clyde". They're being made again after a long hiatus - the last professional ophicleide recital was in 1900. I tried to play one - it sounded like a sick cow or an out-of-pitch foghorn.

[@ricksaint2000]

Thank you History Guy

[@OhioSawMan]

I'm a brass player, have played Trumpet for over 40 years. My favorite woodwind has always been Saxophone.

[@flyshacker]

What a fantastic video!! I have played saxophone for about 60 years, and I never knew ANY of this history!! Thank you so much!!!!!

[@anthonyizzo26]

This was a great video! I should add that the saxophone was made for the orchestra as a way to give more power to the woodwind section. Sax combined the power of a brass instrument with the dexterity of a woodwind, hence the bass saxophone being the first one. There were saxophones pitched in F and C for the orchestra and Eb and Bb for the military bands. Because of all of the legal troubles and BS he went through, the F and C versions fell out of favor. The Bb and Eb survived in the military bands and that's why we still use them.

[@josekelly3565]

My brother was a saxophone player, the eighties was a time when the popularity of the instrument was pretty large.

[@ElaineWood-f2t]

It could be said that Adolphe Sax was an indirect inspiration for a song by Jimmy Buffett. That song is called "If We Had Saxophones."

[@MSimpy-js4db]

The saxamaphone was my first real venture into music. I played alto, tenor, and baritone during my school years. Never got beyond mediocre, lol, but it was fun! Thanks for the history!! I didn’t really know anything about Monsieur Sax before today.

[@V.Hansen.]

Bloody hell. This whole thing gave me anxiety. How embarrassing to be so jealous of someone’s talent that you spend so much time trying to harm them. Fascinating story. I never knew any of this or thought once about the invention of new instruments.

[@alainarchambault2331]

Most of his siblings died. When you throw in all of his near misses with death in his youth, you have to wonder about his parent's parenting ability.

[@williamsmith9026]

Different times. A kid these days wouldn't make 1 year of that life

[@arthurjennings5202]

I did like the treble clef cuff links. Great history lesson.

[@mr88cet]

Along similar lines, you might be interested to do a history/biography of Theobald Boehm. Not nearly as controversial, but he really revolutionized how instrument makers think about musical-instrument design.

[@IceManTX69]

As a 40 yr sax player, this was extremely informational. Thanks!

[@goodchessactor]

Thanks, HG. I would have liked to have seen how the sax became the top instrument of Jazz during the 40's.

[@ceptimus]

A sax player, returning from a gig, stopped to eat at a seedy diner. Another customer warned him that thieves operated on the car park, breaking into the cars and stealing any valuables they found. Realizing that he'd left his saxophone in full view on the back seat, the musician rushed out of the diner to check his car; but it was too late: someone had smashed the rear window and thrown an extra couple of saxophones inside.

[@dawnreneegmail]

😂

[@michaelboggus9993]

Excuse me, sir. As a sax player I would like to state comments like that are supposed to be reserved for banjos

[@williamriley-le9zo]

Nope. Not funny. I read this a few times and even read it aloud. Just not funny at all. This " joke " suggests that the Saxophone is unliked so much that it is just thrown away. There are so many people that do enjoy the Saxophone that this " joke" just isn't funny. Maybe an inside thing with those that play it. Maybe you could explain why it's supposed to be funny remembering that if you have to explain a joke it's still not going to be funny.

[@accountnamewithheld]

Accordions is the traditional joke

[@williamriley-le9zo]

@@accountnamewithheld Ahh, now THAT makes sense. Although it just occurred to me that Ukuleles would be the best choice of all for that joke. What a God awful instrument.

[@jimwilson5148]

Thank you so much for posting this! The weird history of Adolphe Sax and the saxophone needs to be heard. I personally think that for some reason, a time traveler kept trying to stop the invention of the saxophone, but what do I know. A great book about the saxophone is "The Devil's Horn"

[@NoSacredCowFla]

I only vaguely knew his history. Thank you for this.

[@jameslovelady7751]

Thanks I've been curious about Sax since playing Baritone Saxhorn In junior high. Some Salvation Army bands use a set of Saxhorns in various pitches for a beautiful blend.

[@Syl-Vee]

I confess I found his list of mishaps hilarious. (Brought to mind Sir Henry Evelyn Wood.) Grateful he survived to design this wonderful and richly emotive instrument.

[@30yearsagonow]

The sheer pettiness of Sax’s rivals trying to ruin his instruments and reputation... and yet he came out on top. Iconic.

[@goodun2974]

@@30yearsagonow , in today's tech-bro dominant language, he'd be called a "disruptor", and celebrated for it!

[@excrono]

@@30yearsagonow This can be the response when an invention (or person) is so profound others feel inferior and threatened. Their solution to that problem was by rubbing it out instead of working to better improve themselves for that new musical paradigm, in a way, that stems from laziness.

[@victorkreig6089]

*the sheer pettiness of Parisians

[@goodun2974]

@victorkreig6089 , well, they weren't "petty" to my wife and I when we visited there a decade ---- if you're polite, and open to experiencing their city, their food, sights, and culture, they'll be open to you. I'm not generally one to enjoy cities ---- I grew up in the woodsy outer fringes of a loose suburb ---- and I can't stand New York, but we absolutely loved Paris (and Barcelona as well).

[@goodun2974]

@@excrono , artificially-imposed class distinctions likely played a part as well; a few decades later,, people who were classically trained would look down their noses at jazz, and jazz musicians then looked down their noses at those who tried to bring other instruments into jazz. The collaboration between classically-trained violinist Stephane Grappelli and the gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt was considered scandalous in 1930's Paris (Grappelli's family disowned him!); and guitar as anything other than a chunka-chunka thythm instrument was considered a heresy of sorts until Django made it a vehicle for soloing, as Charlie Christian also did with Benny Goodman, but using ---- the horror! ---- an amplified guitar. The formula for jazz guitar eventually became ridgidly slavish to amplified archtop guitars, but some people started playing jazz on solid body Fender Telecasters..... (PS, I'm not a huge jazz fan, preferring swing over bebop, but I saw Stephane Grappelli play twice; that guy sure had a playful way with melody).

[@stevegallagher687]

Great stuff as always. Sad story for the man behind great music.

[@jerrewilliams5555]

As an old man I still turn to my alto sax for solice. Thanks, History Guy.

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

My favorite sax player is David Bowie. No, I'm not joking: he played the saxophone, and while his approach to the instrument was quite unconventional (Bowie, unconventional? Who would've guessed?), I absolutely love his style. He didn't rate himself very highly as a saxophonist, and perhaps technically he wasn't that good (I'm not a sax player so I don't know), but I love his melodic instincts. The instrumental track "The Wedding" from 1993 is a nice example of his playing.

[@Handle1969]

Just the “scale” of what his enemies would do is almost like, well, stuff today.

[@robertlittlejohn7394]

Thank you for this episode. I had no idea that Adolphe Sax had such an influence on musical instruments. I have had an opportunity to play tympani and love how much they add to music. I can say the same thing about saxophones, as they add to the music, especially in Jazz and Rock & Roll.

[@mcfahk]

Nice one! Thanks History Guy! Someone ought to make a series about Sax's life. Wild!

[@ns219000]

Bass clarinet is a really good description of the sax. Also, Yackety Sax would've made a good soundtrack, for the name sake's childhood, apparently.

[@cubfan0062]

What if all the accidents Sax had as a kid weren’t accidents? What if his enemies hated him so much, they invented a Time Machine to go back in time and kill him when he was a child? It really makes you think.

[@chloewilliams1112]

In school learning music and music history, in the 1970s our music teacher would dictate the course notes to us straight out of his head. He had no written notes of his own. Nearly 50 years later i can still recall his most memorable. "The saxophone was invented by Albert Sax." He then stopped talking, checked one of his many references books and continued almost without pause. "Albert, whose real name was Adolphe, was born..."

[@alangknowles]

It sounds like his mother had taken out a large life insurance on him. And arranged for a series of unfortunate events.

[@patrickbelongea6896]

I love saxophone music.

[@danawinsor1380]

One of the most beautiful saxophone solos can be heard in one of the "L'Arlésienne" suites by Georges Bizet.

[@fearthehoneybadger]

Do you believe in sax before marriage?

[@excrono]

Not without a patent.

[@navret1707]

Yes, but only with Clarinet. Okay, okay I’ll leave quietly.

[@popuptarget7386]

Frank Drebin: "Johnny, no sax before a fight."

[@dawnreneegmail]

😂

[@knudsandbknielsen7226]

Great posting! Now, there was also the sousaphone...

[@dawnreneegmail]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@frednich9603]

Did you know Sousa sued to keep his name off of the Sousaphone? It was called the wonderphone until after his death

[@davidhowe6905]

- and the Heckelphone!

[@johncoffin9354]

Many pieces of 'classical' music were written with saxophone parts. The opera 'Herodiade' is one. In performance, only a solo part is actually included. Everywhere else in the score, the saxophones were doubling notes covered by other instruments. I learned this talking to the SF Opera's saxophonist as he warmed up before act One.

[@lightbulb1952]

I played tenor sax in high school. It was my first instrument at 13. I was influenced to play by the rhythm and blues of the late 60s. The music of Sam and Dave, James Brown, and Otis Redding were a great influence on me then.

[@jasonz7788]

Thanks 👍

[@Reubenhubert]

The saxophone makes Christmas music sound classy.

[@ChessIsJustAGame]

My first hearing of a saxophone was when I was a young teen in the mid-70's and discovered the musical group: Supertramp. I thought (and still do) believe they were the most talented modern pop group of the time due to their wide body of instruments compared to the many simplistic rock groups that relied on so few instruments. I might just have to listen to them on the way to work today. 🙂

[@ChessIsJustAGame]

#2 would be Kansas.

[@dawnreneegmail]

@@ChessIsJustAGame I don't Kansas featuring horns like Supertramp or Chicago

[@j.dragon651]

More is not necessarily better, just different.

[@aahz42]

Wonderful! I learned so much about how to get good sax.

[@plunder1956]

My multi-instrnental friend played the Soprano. Alto, Tenor & Baritone Sax, as well as Five other instruments. Also a talented writer.

[@bruceferrero8178]

Been to Dinant several times, beautiful river town.

[@ronalddevine9587]

Cool cufflinks!

[@coffeeisgood102]

From now on whenever I hear or see a saxophone I will think of Adolf Sax. Great video. Thanks for posting.

[@OffRampTourist]

Love the look of the sax tuba.

[@mr88cet]

Excellent topic and video! I’d only heard a few of these crazy stories of reactions to Sax’s instruments. Bonkers! 12:04 - BTW, I’m pretty sure that the final “cleide” syllable of “ophicleide” is rhymes with “bride.” The ophicleide is only a predecessor of the tuba in its typical usage in orchestras - it was used as a low brass in orchestras, for the most part, before the tuba proved itself a considerably more-capable instrument. However, the ophicleide is a completely different instrument: A brass, lip-buzz mouthpiece on a characteristically woodwind body, notably using tone holes rather than valves to change the vibrating wavelength of the sound. The tuba, on the other hand, is pure-brass instrument, specifically a conical-brass instrument. In the hands of a skilled player, I find the ophicleide an intriguing-sounding instrument, but its low register can sound very dead and “lippy” in the hands of a less-skilled performer.

[@JuanRodriguez-km9hl]

Great show 🎉

[@mikesax]

Thank you

[@lkmh3223]

best program of 2024, thank you

[@antiskeletor]

You're the best history teacher ever ever heard

[@frankgulla2335]

THG, your story highlights the sad and amusing steps people will go to to avoid changing.e

[@Craig2760]

Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York several decades ago. There was a display of many of Sax’s instruments. Was very impressive. Wonder if the collection is still there. Sounds like the only horn he didn’t invent and build was the horn at Helm Hammerhand.

[@onliwankannoli]

Hey History Guy, are you calling my dad a liar?? He told me the saxophone was invented by Steve Sax - and that Darryl Strawberry invented strawberry shortcake, Jim Rice invented Rice-a-Roni, Will Clark invented the Clark bar, and Roger Clemens invented Mark Twain. On an unrelated note, does anybody know what a Mattinglyharp is?

[@goodun2974]

@@onliwankannoli , no, but have you ever seen or heard a Nyckleharpa?

[@onliwankannoli]

@ I looked up the nyckelharpa, quite impressive!

[@goodun2974]

@@onliwankannoli , Although I'm not really a fan of Joe Bonnamassa because I consider his particular blend of Blues and Blues Rock to be somewhat bland, there's a live concert from Vienna where he plays mostly acoustic guitar with other musicians including a guy on nyckelharpa, and it's quite good.

[@garymickus6412]

@@onliwankannoli Super funny!

[@thomasjamison2050]

A Sax joke I came across in music skill. It goes: Adolpe Sax had three great tragedies in his life. When he was a young child, he once fell into his mother's stove. When he was a young man, he a brick from his home fell on his head as he was going out the door. Then he invented the saxophone. " Music instrument jokes can often be cruel, but it's a reflection of the rivalries between particular classes of instrumentalists.

[@hunkydorian]

Every time I hear that mellow Saxophone....