Jazz for aficionados

Happy New Year to all! Glad to see the thread alive and well with some great music clips. Hadn't checked the thread in quite a while, and while not intending to post, this subject is a little too close to home to let a factual error slip by:

The saxophone was not a French creation but the creation of Adolf Sax, a Belgian, who in 1842 moved to Paris from Brussels to demonstrate his new creation to his friend Hector Berlioz who went on to promote the new instrument. Sax's father was also an instrument maker, and Adolf's other major achievement was the development of the bass clarinet to, essentially, what we know today. Interestingly, Sax's first saxophone was a bass saxophone (in C). The instrument gained in popularity pretty quickly and it became almost "de rigueur" for major composers to use the instrument in at least one new work. "Bolero" was one of these with two saxophone parts usually thought to be soprano and tenor. In fact, the parts were written for sopranino and tenor. Due to the relative rarity of the sopranino and the fact that, due to its range, the sopranino has to "hand off" the last several measures of the solo to the tenor, it became common to play the sopranino part on the soprano which is capable of playing the entire melody.

Good listening to all!

You may find this video interesting; it ties together a few themes covered in this thread: the saxophone, Johnny Hodges, Frank Wess and his recent passing, and instrument repair technicians and their love for the instruments.

My saxophone repair technician is the great Tomoji Hirakata in NYC. He was also Frank Wess' technician and I happened to be in Tomoji's shop when Frank brought in Johnny Hodges' alto (which he then owned) for an overhaul. It was easily the most beautiful saxophone that I have ever seen, and to hold and play it for a few moments was an experience that I will be never forget; to think of all the amazing music that Hodges made on that horn defies description. Tomoji made this video of part of the overhaul process (with some commentary by Frank) not only as a tribute to Hodges, but as a tribute to the instrument itself. It's an opportunity to appreciate the unique beauty of this particular saxophone and also to get a close-up look at the mechanical complexity of Adolf Sax's creation.

Enjoy.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad_NFvmyPvA&feature=c4-feed-u

Of course, it should be Adolphe, not Adolf; hate this spell checker.

Hi everyone - I can't resist commenting on the Carmen. One of the very finest recordings of this, both from a musical and an audiophile standpoint, is the live recording done at the Met with Leonard Bernstein conducting and Marilyn Horne singing Carmen. There is not a better recording out there. Horne is one of the greatest singers ever, and the sonics on it are incredible. On the DG label. One of the truly rare times when the greatest performance was also given the incredible recording it deserved.

Rok, the snare drummer is often placed at the front of the stage in performances of Bolero. It is actually an incredibly difficult thing to do, to keep exact time for the entire duration of that piece, and it is physically very exhausting as well. So although it usually makes them much more nervous being placed in the front and center, they do appreciate the recognition that they have by miles the most difficult task in that piece.

Rok, I think tonight I'll answer your second question, are people ever fired. The very short answer would be yes, it can happen. First off, after winning an audition to get a position in an orchestra, there is a probationary period. In many orchestras this is one year, though in some, it is two years. If the musician is not up to scratch, they are let go at the end of this probationary period. This happens from time to time. Once a musician is tenured, however, it becomes much more difficult to fire them for artistic reasons. Basically, there is a peer review process, much like doctors and lawyers have. It works much the same pretty much everywhere. If the music director wants to fire someone for artistic reasons, they have to first inform the musician of what the problems are, by a certain date in the season. Then the musician has some time to fix the issues. If they have not, in the music director's opinion, then it goes to a peer review board. This is the committee you definitely hope you don't get elected to every season. :) Usually the musician has the option to play for this committee, and they certainly have the opportunity to state their case. The music director states his/her case. Then there is a secret ballot vote. It takes a certain number of votes to overturn the music directors decision - usually, almost the entire committee would have to vote against the conductor to actually overturn it. In many situations, if the committee is very split, then there is another period of time that goes by, after which it is usually the music director's sole decision. This part of the CBA is by miles the most carefully spelled out, as you might imagine.

Usually, though, things don't get that far. Often, the person in question might be asked to "retire", and offered some sort of financial incentive to do so. Another example might be a person who is in a principal position, and they don't want to deal with the stress of that anymore; they may step down into a section position some years before they actually retire.

It is more common for someone to get fired for cause. For instance, someone in the LA Phil calling in sick, but then going to work a lucrative film recording session. Several members of the LA Phil have been fired for this in the last few decades. Musicians have been fired for alcohol/drug problems that affected their performance, in some cases even after being sent to rehab by the orchestra. I know a musician this happened to after he relapsed. Though the orchestra had paid for his rehab the first time, and had tried to help him, they did not do so a second time, and he was fired. He has since cleaned himself up, and is still earning a living free-lancing and teaching.

Happy New Year Frogman. I'm glad you're back to continue our musical journey to wherever it leads us.

Enjoy the music.