Me & My Bari – Sax that is
By Ron Goldenberg
In high school I played the clarinet. So, it was natural when I joined the New Horizons West Island Band (WINHB) that I continued with the instrument. I dusted off “Herbie” from his long slumber and joined the band.
Much to my dismay there were many clarinetists in the band. While we had a strong section, it felt overcrowded and there seemed to be a total lack of tenor saxophones.
The online search for a tenor saxophone began and after a few weeks I purchased a second-hand Yamaha YTS-23. It was in good shape and the price was right. My life as a saxophone player began. WINHB now had a tenor saxophone. The transition from the clarinet was not too difficult as the fingering for the upper register of the clarinet is almost the same as the fingering for all registers of the saxophone.
Another tenor sax player joined the band and we made nice music together. Prior to the next session Christian, our Music Director, informed me that we had no alto saxophones. The online search for an alto sax took me exactly one day and I purchased a low-end Hawk alto for a bargain basement price. It was in good condition and played well. The band now had a tenor and an alto sax player. The session was good and playing the alto was fun. The alto gets the melody line much more often than the tenor. The last few sessions had me playing tenor sax again as I was the only tenor player and we had other alto saxophone players.
This COVID summer I purchased my true love, a baritone saxophone. Wow! It plays deep, rough and oh so sweet. I got a good deal on an expensive instrument that is in pristine condition. Drove to Gatineau to pick it up and have been in heaven since.
Although my preference is to play the bari sax I think that I will probably play tenor sax for WINHB unless another tenor player shows up. I will discuss it with Christian to see what is better for the band. Given that, I will most likely join the Montreal New Horizons Band to play the bari. I am not sure but I don’t think that they have one. We are still uncertain as to when WINHB will be allowed to return to playing.
We will keep you posted.
Enjoy the rest of the summer.
