Blog
November 20th 2009 | 3
Bad Sax
It could stem from my childhood when my sister incessantly practiced the instrument, but I loathe the saxophone. I know I’m not alone in my hatred, just last night my buddy Bill Beso commented as the Manitoba Folk Orchestra got suffocated in the wail of the putrid woodwind “Sax doesn’t belong in folk music. Anyone who can play the sax can play the oboe, all they have to do is pppppucker.”
I personally believe that it doesn’t belong in almost all genres of music. However it sounded cool when Roland Kirk would shove three or more saxophones into his mouth, or the tasteful playing on punk band X-Ray Spex’s wicked 1978 album Germ Free Adolescents. It’s just the number of good songs that have been ruined by the sax that is totally unacceptable. Poor Bowie defaced plenty of his songs with a horrid solo or outro, but seeing as saxophone was his first instrument, I can let it slide.
The instrument is just so damn cheesy.
Maybe that’s how I’ll turn to the sax side, through my love for cornball, hokey music. Please send me suggestions for worst use of saxophone (or the best) and I’ll try to get over my animosity towards bad sax by making a mix tape.
Discussion
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Typical I know, but probably the best use of a sax in non-jazz form is the solo in Money by Pink Floyd. The guy rips it in 7/4, while David Gilmour cops out an plays his guitar solo after the breakdown in regular old 4/4.
– Andrew Tod in Winnipeg | November 21st 2009 at 1:09pm | Link
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As a saxophonist, I would tend to agree with the opinion that saxophone has ruined countless tracks of pop and rock music. You need to know, though, that most saxophonists playing with pop and rock bands are not all that good. I don’t think it’s a good idea to declare your hatred of an instrument based on listening to music in which it’s out of context and the performers are generally amateurs. The saxophone is meant to play jazz, which is what the majority of world-class saxophonists play.
Check out these guys: Wayne Shorter (Juju, Alegria), John Coltrane (A Love Supreme, My Favorite Things), Cannonball Adderley (Somethin’ Else), Chris Potter (Gratitude), Donny McCaslin (In Pursuit), Joshua Redman (Compass), Kenny Garrett (Songbook).
There’s almost no cheese to be found on these recordings. Please don’t think you hate the saxophone based on what you’ve heard of rock saxophone; it’s all shit. The instrument isn’t cheesy, it’s use in popular music is.
– Charlie Parker in Winnipeg | November 21st 2009 at 10:24pm | Link
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The 80’s featured some bad sax additions to otherwise fantastic songs. The Violent Femmes often including appropriate sax in their songs, but a during a regrettable period in the 80’s, it got out of hand with long, squeaky solos. It overshadowed their strengths and conjured images (in me) of fluorescent pink windbreakers. I can’t recall the offending recording offhand, but I know in later performances they wisely nixed the sax entirely.
I agree with “Charlie Parker” in that the problem is when there’s sax in the middle of a rock song. It doesn’t blend in.– Andrew McMonagle | November 25th 2009 at 3:02pm | Link
