You may think that the story of the saxophone begins with Dexter Gordon or Charlie Parker, or on a street corner in New Orleans. It really began in 1840 in Belgium with a young daydreamer named Joseph-Antoine Adolphe Sax-a boy with bad luck but great ideas. The Story of the Saxophone by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome unravels the fascinating history of how Adolphe's once reviled instrument was transported across Europe and Mexico to New Orleans. Follow the saxophone's journey from Adolphe's imagination to the pawn shop window where it caught the eye of musician Sidney Bechet and became the iconic symbol of jazz music it is today.
6th November is Saxophone Day, which coincides with the birthday of its inventor, Antoine-Joseph ‘Adolphe’ Sax. This Belgian musician conceived the saxophone in 1841, the only instrument created by one single person and the only brass instrument in the woodwind family. Before the saxophone, he created various ‘sax’ brass instruments that fell into oblivion, including the saxtuba, saxotromba, and saxhorn. Today we celebrate the fantastic contribution of the saxophone to music. With time, it became an inherent part of jazz bands, inspiring many songs and dances from classical saxophonist Marcel Mule to the famous jazz musician Charlie Parker.
There are more books than you would think about people who have played the saxophone after its invention. Most of the books are picture book biographies.
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