Baritone Sax

Enjoyed playing it a lot in High School, except in marching band (which I was drafted into), and also carrying the bloody thing home for over a mile.

• especially liked the ensemble arrangements of Lennie Niehaus.

Would love to buy a new one, but costs $2500+, which is a big commitment. Plus if I return to civilization (NYC), my neighbors wouldn't put up with it.

It's tempting to buy a digital sampler and Midi Wind Controller, since

• could play/learn other instruments as well (have wanted to learn keyboards, just call me Professor Shorthair)
• kids could use it to learn keyboards
• could practice with headphones late at night without waking anyone up
• but probably not quite the same feel (physical satisfaction and aural realism) of the true big monster
• update: I finally (2010-12-25) Bought Ewi Usb but could never get it to work right, finally threw it out

Would need to find a group to play with, since playing alone is too boring.

• New School has ensembles, $500/semester, and they haven't been run the last semester or 2 due to lack of demand...

Good BariSax music:

• The ThreeBaritoneSaxophoneBand Plays Mulligan
• the BluiettBaritoneSaxophoneGroup Live at the Knitting Factory.

Good players in bigger Horn Section:

• http://jazzbarisax.com/baritone-saxophonists/
• Dave Sewelson: Microscopic Septet, FastAndBulbous
• Doc Kupka: Tower Of Power
• Roger Lewis: Dirty Dozen Brass Band
• Neal Sugarman: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and the Sugarman3. (hmm, actually I think he plays Tenor Sax in those groups)
  • other Baritone Sax players that have been in the Dap Kings:
    • Cochemea Gastelum (wrote my 2 favorite songs on "Give the People What They Want" album) http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cochemea-gastelum-mn0000388600/
    • Ian Hendrickson Smith http://ianhendricksonsmith.com/ (Playing on Jimmy Fallon show since Feb'2014)
    • Leon Michels
    • Martin Perna (aka Jack Zapata) (who founded AntiBalas, an Afro Beat band) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Perna
• Kurt McGettrick: Frank Zappa http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?59044-Kurt-McGettrick-Bari-Sax-Monster-R.I.P.
  • Kurt's experiences with Tower Of Power caused him to never miss an opportunity to refer to them as the "Tower Of Jello".
  • He came in one night after the Zappa Band had what Kurt referred to as “beaming parties”. Apparently the synclavier would print stuff out with either no beams or wrong beams. When I saw the charts I immediately could see why there was a problem. The complexity of Zappa’s music made for tedious rehearsals.
• Charlie Kohlhase of Either Orchestra
• Howard Johnson who also played Tuba and Bass Clarinet. See Gil Evans Live at Sweet Basil vol 2
• Bobby Eldridge: Lyle Lovett Big Band
• Prominent baritone saxophonists in contemporary American popular music include Stephen Kupka of Tower of Power and Dana Colley of Morphine. Nigerian Afrobeat singer, musician, and bandleader Fela Kuti typically featured two baritone saxophone players in his band. A few modern non-jazz artists have recently begun to incorporate saxophones into their instrumentation. The LA Indie rock band Fitz and the Tantrums featured both an alto and a baritone saxophone in their music—most recently their 2016 song "Handclap" from an album of the same name. Both were played by band member James King.[10][11] The "Brass house" (experimental jazz/funk) group Too Many Zooz is another group that has popularized the baritone saxophone. Originally a New York City subway band, the trio has released three albums and been featured on a TEDxYouth@Budapest segment..... In the 1970s, a Jazz Band called the Baritone Saxophone Retinue consisted of between six and ten baritone saxophones, backed up by a rhythm section. A similar group, the International Baritone Conspiracy, which featured six baritones, was formed in the 1990s. More recent notable performers include Billy Carrion, Ken Ponticelli, Hamiet Bluiett (who has also led a group of baritone players), Luca T Mai of Zu, John Surman, Scott Robinson , James Carter, Stephen Doc Kupka of the band Tower Of Power, Nick Brignola, Clifton Hyde, Gary Smulyan, Ronnie Cuber, Chad Makela, Frank Vacin and Claire Daly. In the avant-garde scene, Andy Laster and Tim Berne have doubled on bari. A Noted Scottish performer is Joe Temperley, who has appeared with Humphrey Lyttelton as well as with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. The Baritone Saxophone Band, a tribute to Gerry Mulligan, featured three baritone saxophonists: Ronnie Cuber, Gary Smulyan, and Nick Brignola.
• On Friday at the Jazz Cultural Theater in Chelsea, Charles Davis and four other baritone saxophonists, plus a rhythm section, convened as the New York Baritone Saxophone Retinue. The five saxophonists - Mr. Davis, Pat Patrick, Cecil Payne, Kenny Rogers and Bobby Eldridge - phrased together for a husky blend in chordal theme statements and backing riffs, and each revealed his own approach to solos.
• Dan Oestreicher: in Trombone Shorty http://jonathanfreilich.com/music-interviews/2012/6/25/interview-with-dan-oestreicher-currently-with-trombone-short.html
• for Prince:
  • Kathy Jensen (HornHeads)
  • Eric Leeds
  • B K Jackson
• Tom Bones Malone - I'm pretty sure he played Bari on the Blues Brothers soundtrack-album (which varied from the actual film soundtrack in a variety of ways!) (e.g. on Shake A Tail Feather). (Mainly a trombone player. Also played Tuba on Frank Zappa's Wazoo.)
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Malone_(musician)
  • http://www.jazzmasters.nl/malone_tom.htm
  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000834266375&sk=wall
  • worked a lot with Gil Evans
• CarlGeraghty: on the soundtrack to The Commitments

(For these last 2 cases, I'm making the Neologism TenorWashing to apply when you can hear a Baritone Sax but only see a tenor (or alto).)