Imagine a world without the music of John Coltrane or Charlie “Bird” Parker. Imagine Tom Jobim’s “The Girl from Ipanema” without the lush sounds of Stan Getz’s instrument. What about Sting’s initial solo albums without Branford Marsalis grooving in the background? All of us music lovers owe the invention of that marvelous instrument, the saxophone, to a Belgian XIX century prodigy: Adolphe Sax.
Born in 1814 the city of Dinant in Namur province, Sax showed early signs of musical talent and curiosity. He could play the flute and clarinet, and was a remarkable singer. His father, Charles-Joseph, was a maker of musical instruments and nourished Adolphe’s musical drive.
His childhood was filled with unusual, somewhat risky experiences, all of which marked his daring character. Some biographies include the stories of Sax falling on a cast iron stove or being hit on the head by a paving stone.
At the time, instrument makers believed that to create a quality wind instrument what mattered most was the material. Sax on the other hand had been toiling with possibility of improving the flow of air inside the instrument. He was searching for a new timbre. He was thus focusing a lot of his attention on the design and shape of instrument. Some of his peers sneered at him, others ignored him. They were used to explore what was known, the material, and didn’t want to start meddling with the way the aired flowed through the instrument.
After much trial and error, Sax came up with a revolutionary model: a brass instrument twisted into a parabolic cone to ease the flow of air that could release a soothing sound. “With tenderness and contained passion,” said French composer Georges Bizet.
Sax patented the new family of instruments in 1846 in Paris, where the Belgian inventor was a living at the time. The family of sax instruments consists of seven varieties, each with a different register: soprano, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, and contra-bass saxophones.
In the second half of 19th century, the saxophone used to mainly be an accompanying instrument for military music, very popular in Europe at the time. In the late 1800’s, however, the saxophone arrived in the US and several instrument makers saw the potential ahead: first Blues, and then Jazz would shoot out to the sky of popular music. Little by little, the saxophone would overshadow the trumpet and the clarinet, which up to that point, had been the solo instruments that shone at every band performance.
The saxophone reached its glory days in the roaring 1920’s, the Golden Age of Jazz. Sidney Bechet was the first jazz star to popularize the soprano sax, while Coleman Hawkins chose the tenor as the vessel to express his musical persona.
Every time contemporary stars like Joe Henderson or Kenny Garrett, Joe Lovano or Miguel Zenón bring the glorious instrument to their mouths, a little sparkle shines over the Belgian city of Dinant.
