Musings: [[Oscar Picks 1999]]
##Recently Updated Pages
What’s up with Oscar this year?
This is the story of my first saxophone. It lasted 20 years.
What’s up with Oscar this year?
##Picture
Shakespeare In Love, but everyone will remember Saving
Private Ryan.
##Director
##Actor
##Actress
##Supporting Actor
he should have been recognized long ago.
##Supporting Actress
##Cinemetography
##Visual Effects
##Editing
##Sound
##Sound Effects Editing
##Foreign Language Film
##Screenplay (Original)
##Screenplay (Adaptation)
##Original Musical or Comedy Score
##Original Dramatic Score
##Makeup
##Costume Design
##Art Direction
actually took place partially in a Monet painting! What better Art Direction
could you ask for?
##Original Song
*–
##Totals
Musings: [[Requiem For A saxophone]]
Happy Birthday [[Charles Francis Carney|title=Dad]].
This is the story of my first saxophone. It lasted 20 years.
“When you play, it sounds through your body. The sound of the instrument is a very personal thing.” Waterhouse said, explaining the enduring union of man and woodwind.
I had been playing various instruments for a number of years. I started playing the flute when I was in 4th grade (I was no fool. I had to carry the instrument to school for rehersals!). Along about sixth grade I was sitting in the cafeteria at school listening to the “Fremont High School” Jazz Ensemble. It changed my life forever.
The first thing I noticed was that there wasn’t a flute to be found in the ensemble, at least not as a main instrument. Some of the sax players had flutes sitting on stands next to their music stands, but they basically all played the sax.
The music they played wasn’t like anything I had played up to that point. It had an energy to it that was infectious.
That day was when I decided that I wanted to play the sax.
##Christmas, 1978
At first I started teaching myself using an extra sax from the school. Geese flew in from everywhere just to hear me honk!
Along about 7th grade, I asked my parents for a tenor saxophone for Christmas. I didn’t know anything about saxes then, but I knew I wanted one for myself.
I didn’t think I’d actually get one, but it never hurts to ask.
A family friend, who plays tenor sax himself, agreed to help my parents find a nice used instrument for me. He went with them to several music stores and peoples’ houses to try and find a suitable instrument for a reasonable price.
##Buescher
After trying out several models, he decided that a Beuscher that he had tried was the one. It didn’t look much, he said, but it sure has a nice sound.
Here’s what the saxophone FAQ has to say about them:
The Buescher is the best kept secret of vintage horns. Bueschers offer a more delicate and refined touch that the Conn. It’s no wonder that Selmer chose the Buescher company to produce their American counterparts. The Buescher professional model of the 40’s (the Aristocrat) is an incredibly well-designed and produced horn. I have an Aristocrat alto that I use as my backup horn. These horns are usually fairly inexpensive, and reasonably easy to find…. For the budding saxaphonist in search of a good horn for not too much money, this horn is a logical choice.
So, the old family friend called it right!
I started working on learning how to play the instrument. I had two problems with it:
# The mouthpiece that came with it was aweful, so I needed a new one
# Eventhough it sounded nice, I was young and placed a lot of importance on the look of the instrument. I wanted a sax that looked nice also
What an ungrateful kid, huh? So, for my birthday the following year I asked for my sax to get reconditioned and a new coat of laquer put on. I know that every sax player out there is cringing right now (so am I come to think of it), but I didn’t know any better. For those of you that aren’t sax players, relaquering a horn changes to tonal characteristics and they never quite sound the same afterwards. Luckily for me, after all was said and done, the Buescher looked, and still sounded, beautiful.
##The first tragedy!
I called a friend over to the house (who played trumpet) the day that I got it back from the shop to have a look. It was simply beautiful.
While putting it back in its case (does this sound familiar yet), it slipped out of my hands and fell (about 8-12 inches) to a carpetted floor. That little drop misaligned all the keys from about the F down. I was crushed! I rushed it over to the guy who reconditioned it form me, and *he* almost looked like he was going to cry (I had been crying the whole time). The first reconditioning job was done for $250. I was ready for another bill of about the same size. But he was a kindly older gentleman who loved music and instruments. I realigned all of the keys,pounded out the dent and relaquered the affected area for $20! (that’s not a typo, twenty dollars!).
Well, suffice to say, I was even more careful with it over the years after that mishap.
##Enter High School
By the time of my freshman year of highschool, I had been playing the tenor sax a whole year and a half. Remember now, my goad all along was to get into the Jazz Ensemble. Little did I know that it was the home of the elite musicians on campus. Here’s the breakdown of the music program at the time:
** **C Band*: This was for people that basically had no clue at all, but wanted to learn some music
** **B Band*: This was for people that basically knew how to play, but were still pretty much beginners. At the time, this band still received *Excellent* scores in the “CMEA” competitions, so it was no slouch!
** **A Band*: This was pretty much the cream of the crop. At the CMEA this wind ensemble usually ended up with a *Command Performance” rating (an ”Excellent* in all categories).
** **Jazz Ensemble*: If you were the best of the best in the A Band, you could audition for the Jazz Ensemble. At the time, this Jazz Ensemble was among the best in the state.
So, needless to say, I didn’t get in the Jazz Ensemble that year. I ended up in the B band and spent another year working on how to play that thing! My parents hired a private teacher for me who started working with me on the fundementals of Jazz Improvisation and just basically how to play the instrument.
He helped a lot, and the following year I made it into the Jazz Ensemble,sitting in the 2nd tenor chair (or 4th sax chair depending on how you count :-). About halfway through the year, the lead alto sax player quit the band, and I was moved into the lead chair!!! I couldn’t believe it. I really enjoyed my time there, but my instrument was the tenor sax, not the alto sax, so in my Junior Year, I switched to the lead tenor chair, and started really playing!
By the time my senior year rolled around, I really felt like I was making some progress on the sax. That year, at the Herb Patno Jazz Festival I got an award for an improvisation that I did on a tune called Groovin’ Hard. I still have the little trophy at home!
##Off to College
After graduating from *Fremont High School*, I headed off to [[UCSB]]. I remember getting there about a week before classes started and running into the music professor that ran the jazz program. I talked to her a little and told her that I played the tenor sax and was interested in getting into the University Jazz Ensemble. She smiled and told me when tryouts were.
I went to the tryouts and boy was it an eye opener! I thought I knew how to play, but I was still (after 5 years) a beginner! I ended up in the B Jazz Ensemble. Well, at least I got to play! I also got into a small combo group (also part of the jazz curricullum there) and got my first taste of small group playing. The group consisted of myself and 3 other friends that happened to live in the same dorm building on the same floor! We called ourselves (are you ready for this…) He-man and the Masters of the Universe! I still that it was a pretty cool name!
We played one concert under that name. The fun part was that were on the bill with 3 other bands, 2 of which had one some major awards at some jazz festivals! We were just kids, freshman still learning what jazz was all about. So, instead of playing the gig seriously, we decided to have ***fun*** with it! Keep in mind that this was a serious, formal gig in the concert hall of the University!
[[mikesolo]]
We got together a few hours before the gig and put away a bit of beer. Then we got dressed up: We all wore white shorts, Hawaiian shirts, and sunglasses. We played *How High The Moon”, ”Yardbird Suite”,and ”Shadows in the Rain*, looking as cool as possible the whole time. We weren’t the best group that day, but we played well and left an impression. We were the only group that night that got a standing ovation from the crowd!
Later that same year I was in another combo called Shaken, not Stirred. It was a blues oriented group and was a lot of fun. We competed in a campus wide talent contest and won!
The following year I made the A Jazz Ensemble, and had a blast. We had several gigs and even backed up some professional musicians at concerts on campus. One of those was Pete Christlieb, the lead tenor sax player for the **Tonight Show Band**. What a pleasure to listen to that guy blow!
My Junior year I joined a jazz-fusion group called **Confusion**. We did only original tunes and were fairly successful in the area. We made a demo tape at a studio in Los Angeles that got played on the local radio station.
My real education came my senior year, however. That’s when I decided that I really wanted to be playing in front of a crowd more, so I started going to a jam session downtown at a place called Joseppi’s on Friday nights. The band was called **The State Street Allstars**. It was here that I finally started to get my voice. I also met a few people that influenced me musically and otherwise for the rest of my life.
Among the musicians that dropped by to jam with us was a trumpet player that was in town touring with Ray Charles. Unfortunately I don’t remember his name, but it was a treat to play with him.
##Post college
After college, I kinda lost my way. I played a little at some jam sessions arond the SF Bay Area, and did some substitution work, but didn’t find a band to play in regularly.
I played with **Infinite Q** as a substitute when their sax player was out of town for the week at Cafe Jazz in Cupertino, CA. It was a fun couple of gigs, but since I was only substituting, it didn’t last.
I also jammed a little with **Ike and the Coldbloods*’ at the ‘*Monterey Whaling Company** in Sunnyvale, CA.
##Playing with a Hooker
No, not that kind of hooker. I was jamming with a group called Deacon Jones and his Bucket Full of Blues one night at J. J.’s Blues Lounge in Mountain View, CA when Deacon grabbed the mic to make an announcement. He said (paraphrased):
Ladies and Gentlemen. We have with us tonight a true legend. Now I imagine that if we all put our hands together and give him a round of applause, we might be able to get him up here to sing a couple of tunes for us. Sitting at the bar let’s hear it for Mr. John Lee Hooker!
Yes, **that** John Lee Hooker. I couldn’t believe it. He sang a couple of numbers and I took a couple of solos, and afterwards sat down at the bar next to him and bought him a whiskey! Definitely one of the highlights of my life!
Then I found a wonderful woman and got married, had a couple of kids, and suddenly didn’t seem to have the time to get out and play. I had a real job and bills to pay you know 🙂
It had been about five years since I’d played and my wife and I were at the “Mirassou” winery in San Jose, CA helping it celebrate its 150th year. There was a big band playing that day, and I noticed that the piano player was a guy I had played with in some of the groups back in college! During a break I went over and talked to him a bit and he introduced me to the leader of the band, Mike Sloan. He gave me his card and told me to come by sometime with my axe and sit in at a rehersal.
Well, I hadn’t picked the thing up in 5 years, so I was **way*’ out of practice (I know, there’s ‘*no** excuse!!!). A few months later (yes, it took me that long to work up the courage), and without any practice I gave him a call and went to a rehersal. All things considered, it worked out rather well. He asked me to come to rehersals regularly and be on his sub list. It didn’t take long for a permanent opening, and I became a regular member of the band, eventually getting back to the lead tenor chair. I had a ball for the 2 years that I played with them.
##Off to Boston
Well, a couple of years ago I ended up getting transferred to the Boston area. As I was leaving, the lead alto player in the Mike Sloan Big Band said something to me: “Whatever you do out there, *PLAY*!”. Unfortunately, I didn’t take his advice too seriously, and didn’t play for the first 1 1/2 years out here. But last July I took a trip out to San Jose on business and sat in with the band at the “Bay 101”. It was awesome. At that moment, I knew that I’d be playing my sax again when I got home.
The first thing I did upon returning home was to get out the paper and look for jam sessions near me. I found a few and started attending regularly…
Until…
##The Second Tragedy
[[buescher]]
Last Thursday night. I had finished the jam session and was getting ready to leave the pub. I put my sax away in its case and walked over to say goodbye to a couple of people. I got back to my sax and picked it up to go home… and the case wasn’t securely closed. The sax dropped out of the case and 3 feet to the hardwood floor.
I couldn’t believe it. That sax, that I had had all those adventures with,was sitting on the floor instead of in its case. I picked it up, thinking that perhaps I got lucky and it hit the floor just right so that there would be no damage. Boy was I wrong, and I should have known better (see *The First Tragedy* above). It had landed on the bell which had collapsed inward. Because of the impact, the bell was now misaligned with all of the low keys which no longer closed properly. I held it up and looked down the main body of the sax and closed the keys. I could see light around the edges of most of them. My tenor sax, the birthday present from my parents 20 years ago, my longtime friend, was dead. I actually sat down in the pub and cried.
##Make lemonaid
I got home that night, and was in pretty bad shape. I was in
shock, saddened, angered, in short, miserable. My wife commented that she
hadn’t seen me like that
[[Do I dare to eat a peach][text since my father had passed away]].
I came to the conclusion that this was God’s way of telling me one of two things:
# It’s time to put up the sax for good. You’re a grown man, you have a family. There’s no need for you to go out and play like some kind of kid. You’re never going to be successful, so what’s the point
# It’s time you get a new sax. You’ve been playing for years on a sax that’s several decades old, and you’ve never been able to just stop playing. Get a new instrument and keep on doing something that you love and is part of you.
Needless to say, I listened to the second one.
I decided to get a “Dave Guardala” saxophone. Why? Well, there’s a few reasons.
Ever since I began playing the sax I’ve wanted what that family friend has,a vintage Selmer Mark VI tenor in mint condition (yep, that’s what he has,and he’s been the only owner. He bought it new back around 1956!). Well,those run about $5000! Way more than I could legitimately spend, given that I’m not a professional musician. Also, after quite a bit of reading on the subject, I found out that although the Selmer is considered one of the great instruments ever designed, it wasn’t a very consistent greatness. Some Mark VI’s are unbelievable, and some are substandard. There was no way I could afford to gamble $5K like that. But if you get a good one,there’s nothing like the sound that comes out of that horn.
[[guardala]]
So, now I’m thinking that I want to get something new, that has modern action in the keys, with a sound like a Mark VI. I remembered back to when I was playing in the Mike Sloan band a few years ago. I had a conversation with the lead alto about his sax. It was a Guardala. His comment at the time was:
I was in the army band for several years, and there we all had Selmer Mark VI’s. There’s nothing like a Mark VI, but this Guardala is the only instrument I’ve played since then that doesn’t leave me *wanting* for a Mark VI.
That’s pretty incredible praise! So I started looking around the net for a review of various saxophones, and I couldn’t really find anything. Then I gave “USA Horn” a call. I talked to their resident sax expert about various options I have, and ten I mentioned the Guardala. His response was something like:
You know about the Guardala? Let me tell you something. The Yamaha might have the best action out there today, but the Guardala has the sound of a Mark VI, and I’d take that anytime myself.
More incredible praise. And not only that, the Guardala is several hundred dollars *less* than the Yamaha. This guy was selling me on an instrument that would make him less money. That right there earned him points as far as I’m concerned.
So, my Guardala is on it’s way from Germany (where it’s manufactured), and I can’t wait to play it!
[[MikeSolo]]
“L”ast Thursday night, while jamming at “John Stone’s Inn”,
I dropped my saxophone and damaged it beyond repair.
I had a lot of memories tied up in that sax. It was a gift
from my parents about 20 years ago (boy does that make
me sound old!), that a friend of the family (who played with
the big bands back in the 40’s and 50’s) helped pick out.
We went through junior high school, hight school, and college
together and had a lot of adventures.
[[99022101]]
I finally got
[[Madison’s 1999 Birthday]] party pictures online!
This
[Letter to NOW](http://www.feminista.com/v2n10/mccarten.html)
got me to thinking, and I’m working on “Presidential Perfection” again.
Dan King muses about
[problems with the world rankins system.](http://www.golfweb.com/library/dking/knuth990301.html)
The [World Golf Rankings — Current Standings](http://www.golfweb.com/ga/pga/ranking/1999/current.html)
[Is Fluff on his way out?](http://www.golfonline.com/columns/1999/apnotes/0302.html)
Forgettable thriller directed by Brian dePalma. Hey Brian… it’s the writing stupid!
Awesome recreation of Elizabethan England with a wonderful story to boot. How did he write *Romeo and Juliet*? Check this movie out to find the answer.
CarneyWeb 