Bass saxophone

The bass saxophone is one of the largest members of the saxophone family—larger than the more common baritone saxophone. The modern bass saxophone is a transposing instrument pitched in B♭, an octave below the tenor saxophone. The bass saxophone is not a commonly used instrument, but it is heard on some 1920s jazz recordings, in free jazz, in saxophone choirs, and occasionally in concert bands.

Bass Saxophone
bass saxophone
Woodwind instrument
Classification
Hornbostel–Sachs classification422.212-71
(Single-reed aerophone with keys)
Inventor(s)Adolphe Sax
Developed28 June 1846[1]
Playing range

In B♭: sounds two octaves and a major second lower than written
Related instruments

Military band family:

Orchestral family:

Other saxophones:

Musicians
More articles or information

The instrument was first used in 1844, both by Hector Berlioz in an arrangement of his Chant sacre, and by Georges Kastner in his opera Le Dernier Roi de Juda. In the 1950s and 1960s it enjoyed a brief vogue in orchestrations for musical theater: Leonard Bernstein’s original score for West Side Story includes bass saxophone, as does Meredith Willson’s Music Man and Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend. Australian composer Percy Grainger and American composer Warren Benson have championed the use of the instrument in their music for concert band.

Although bass saxophones in C were made for orchestral use, modern instruments are in B♭. This puts them a perfect fourth below the baritone and an octave lower than the tenor. Music is written in treble clef, just as for the other saxophones, with the pitches sounding two octaves and a major second lower than written. As with most other members of the saxophone family, the lowest written note is the B♭ below the staff—sounding as a concert A♭ in the first octave (~ 51.9 Hz). German wind instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim has made bass saxophones with an additional key to produce low (written) A. This is similar to the low A key on the baritone saxophone and produces a concert G in the first octave (~ 49 Hz).

Until the start of the 21st century, the largest existing member of the saxophone family was the rare contrabass, pitched in E♭, a perfect fifth lower than the bass. Inventor Adolphe Sax had a patent for a subcontrabass saxophone (or bourdon saxophone), but apparently never built a fully functioning instrument. In 1999, Benedikt Eppelsheim introduced the subcontrabass tubax, a modified saxophone pitched in B♭ an octave below the bass saxophone.

Pan American Bass Saxophone

In jazz

The bass saxophone enjoyed some measure of popularity in jazz combos and dance bands between World War I and World War II, primarily providing bass lines, although players occasionally took melodic solos. Notable players of this era include Billy Fowler, Coleman Hawkins, Otto Hardwicke (of the Duke Ellington orchestra), Adrian Rollini (who was a pioneer of bass sax solos in the 1920s and 30s), Min Leibrook, Spencer Clark, Charlie Ventura and Vern Brown of the Six Brown Brothers.[2] The bass sax became more scarce in standard jazz band instrumentation during the mid-to-late 1920s. Sheet music of the period shows many bands photographed with a bass sax in their collection of instruments. It was sometimes played by the tuba or string bass player rather a member of the sax section.

American bandleader Boyd Raeburn (1913–1966) led an avant-garde big band in the 1940s and sometimes played the bass saxophone. In Britain, Oscar Rabin played it in his own band. Harry Gold, a member of Rabin's band, played bass saxophone in his own band, Pieces of Eight. American bandleader Stan Kenton's "Mellophonium Orchestra" (1960–1963) featured fourteen brass players and used a saxophone section of one alto, two tenors, baritone, and bass on Johnny Richards' compositions (with Joel Kaye playing baritone and bass saxophones). That ensemble recorded several successful albums and won two Grammys.[3] The Lawrence Welk Band featured Bill Page soloing on bass saxophone on several broadcasts during the 1960s. Shorty Rogers's Swingin' Nutcracker (recorded for RCA Victor in 1960) featured a bass saxophone (played by Bill Hood) on four of the movements.

The 1970s traditional jazz band The Memphis Nighthawks built their sound around diminutive bass saxophonist Dave Feinman. Some revivalist bass saxophonists performing today in the 1920s–1930s style are Vince Giordano and Bert Brandsma, leader of the Dixieland Crackerjacks. Jazz players using the instrument in a more contemporary style include Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Peter Brötzmann, J. D. Parran, Hamiet Bluiett, James Carter, Stefan Zeniuk, Michael Marcus, Vinny Golia, Joseph Jarman, Brian Landrus, Urs Leimgruber, Tony Bevan, and Scott Robinson, although none of these players use it as their primary instrument.

Jan Garbarek plays a bass sax on the 1973 album Red Lanta.

In rock

Bass saxophonists in rock include:

In classical music

The bass saxophone is sometimes used in concert bands, typically in arrangements from before 1950. It is used most frequently in saxophone choirs, specifically those in the direct legacy of teacher-soloist Sigurd Rascher.

It is rarely used in orchestral music, though several examples exist. The earliest extant work to employ it is William Henry Fry's "sacred symphony" Hagar In the Wilderness (1853), which also calls for soprano saxophone and was written for Louis-Antoine Jullien's orchestra during its American tour. It was used by Richard Strauss in his Sinfonia Domestica, where the music has four saxophone parts, including one for bass saxophone in C. Arnold Schoenberg wrote for the bass saxophone in his one-act opera Von Heute auf Morgen, and Karlheinz Stockhausen includes a part for it in the saxophone section of Lucifer's Dance, the third scene of Samstag aus Licht.

References
  1. "June 28, 1846: Parisian Inventor Patents Saxophone". Wired.com. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  2. "Six Brown Brothers". Redhotjazz.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  3. "Stan Kenton Biography". Wayback.archive.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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