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After 19 phone calls, Voytek found a saxophone in a nearby city....Have you ever suffered saxophone withrawal?Chris's eyes lit up when I mentioned the piano in the other room. He had a guitar to play, but told me that he plays piano 10x better. I knew what it felt like since I didn't have a saxophone for several weeks the previous summer.Voytek, from Poland, taught the salsa for the summer course in Heidelberg, Germany. He put on a performance at the end of the program and when asked if anyone played an instrument one day in class. And I had been looking for a saxophone for the first two weeks of class. Since I was not in Germany for very long and did not have citizenship, finding a saxophone to rent for a short period of time did not happen easily. I had tried four places already and not succeeded yet. Not playing sax for a couple of weeks can be tough, but it didn't seem like I was going to be able to get one. When Voytek thought it would be cool if I played something right before the salsa dancing, I was all for it and took the train to Mannheim where I stumbled through talking about the saxophone I wanted to rent, auf Deutsch (in German). I had my Meyer 8 with me since I had hoped I would find a sax in Germany. The old tenor sax that Voytek found in Mannheim had a few leaks in the horn, making the low notes tough, but the higher notes sounded all right. And it felt good to play again. Before the salsa, I played 'Tequila' since it was somewhat latin and I didn't know a lot of salsa music at that point. Later in the show I played 'St. Thomas' and improvised for a bit. When I went back to Germany the following summer I planned ahead to get a saxophone and Geoff Fox helped me. The video to the left is me playing 'Afro Blue' with the very talented Scottish piano player Chris Lyons that happened to be living with me. Even finding a saxophone can be difficult in some parts of the world. There are tons of guitar players and piano players. And tons of resources online. Not as much for the saxophone.... And it can be hard to find and clouded with clutter and bickering. Enter your name and e-mail address to get tips on improving your sound, join 89 sax players on the list to learn more about saxophone, and access tons of saxophone videos and content. |
Hello, my name is Neal Battaglia. I've been playing saxophone for twelve years in styles ranging from jazz to classical to Hawaiian reggae. It's my passion and I love it.
The saxophone world can be experienced through jazz festivals, concerts, music classes and lessons. My favorite style to play is jazz, but right now I'm playing with a blues band and a salsa band. A week-long master class with George Young really inspired me to really play more. I know guys who teach saxophone for a living, tour the world playing the saxophone, repair saxophones, and other saxophonists who just play for fun.
What these sax players have in common is a love for saxophone and the creative blood to express themselves through the horn.
There was a music store around the corner called Dorn and Kirchner and in the window there was this saxophone and, boy, I used to go and press my nose up against that window and just look at those horns. I loved the way they looked. I had to play one.
-James Moody (quoted from interview by Bob Bernotas)
`Now you try it.' [said Coltrane] And then I was more depressed than ever. It sounded like a mule who had been mortally stabbed in the heart. That sound that I was getting out of this instrument, it was just terrible.
-Benny Golson (in his very early days of playing, quoted from interview by Bob Bernotas)
The well-educated musician must have the information from the music first of all, and then find out what it all means the names and the rules and axiom is. All that adds up to a well-balanced musical education. We start out playing by ear, learning everything we can, and finally ending up playing by ear again. You just absorb it, and it becomes part of your ability to perceive from then on.
-Lee Konitz (article by David Kastin)
When I was just 10 years old I used to dream of becoming a professional musician, to make my own records and tour around the world. When I first started playing my saxophone in 5th grade I really had no idea what all that even meant. Well, after having performed in over 60 different countries, recording 10 solo CD's and playing on hundreds of other records, films, television shows and commercial jingles, I have definitely exceeded those musical goals I set for myself way back then.
-Eric Marienthal (his Orkut page)
-Benny Golson (in his very early days of playing, quoted from interview by Bob Bernotas)
-Lee Konitz (article by David Kastin)