The last straw!

[AbrahamFackle]

Tonight, after I finished a beautiful solo which ended two octaves above :space5: (in a tasteful fashion, IMHO), the lead altoist in the community jazz band pulled me aside and said, not too politely, "there's a reason Mulligan and Cuber don't play any altissimo notes". I was horribly offended (he hasn't listened to much Cuber, obviously..). He's been after me for playing high for a while now (it's not my fault I hear clarinet), but this is the flea that broke the camel's back. I thought I should share this great insult to both my playing and the mighty baritone where the damage he's caused to my fragile psyche can be appreciated. Meanwhile, I will be in the basement learning the omnibook in the original octave so I can show him what's what.

Baritone not playing altissimo. Harumph. Just because he can't do it..

[singlereed]

Yeah, know how you feel, I have to play second alto in a band where the first alto is a shocking player - poor tone, intonation, no vibrato, no sense of timing either. These things are often not done on merit, but according to what clique you are in, length of time in the band etc - and I also sussed that several of these awful woodwind players were once taught by the MD......

[Nobby Keys]

Abraham

Play it how you want to play it.

[Razzy]

Just keep doing what you're doing, man.

I can't play altissimo for crap on the bari but I am really impressed by guys who can and make it sound great.

I think that bari as a solo instrument calls for altissimo MUCH more than alto or tenor do, but oddly enough, it's rarely used and even more rarely done well. The reason I think it's more called for on bari is that the solo voice naturally wants to be in a certain range. About half of the bari is just too low and will conflict with the bass, so naturally the range should be extended to give the soloist a wider pallette. People who don't understand this concept amaze me...

[goodsax]

Yeah, know how you feel, I have to play second alto in a band where the first alto is a shocking player - poor tone, intonation, no vibrato, no sense of timing either. These things are often not done on merit, but according to what clique you are in, length of time in the band etc - and I also sussed that several of these awful woodwind players were once taught by the MD......Oh how this hits close to home. I'm in the same situation playing baritione, a band-owned Mark VI, in a community concert band having to listen to mediocre altos and even worse tenors at every downbeat. But, I'm the newest kid on the block and the clique is firmly entrenched, so I do what I have to do to make zee bootful muzik.

[Nitetimer]

Well the way I see it is if you were really bad and he was a normal person he would tell you to "keep on working at it but please use some discression until you have a handle on those notes".
Now if the guy's a jerk or jealous in some way he's sure to be insensitive with his remarks. You'll run across musicians at every level that do this for no real reason. I believe they just view other musicians as competitors and it usually has no reflection on the way YOU play. It's easier for him to make you look bad than it is to make himself look better. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Gandalfe]

I played bari the first year I was back from 27 year hiatus from performance. Now two years later I'm the lead alto or tenor depending on what the jazz band needs.

Kids from high school and new college grads show up periodically and blow me outta the water--they are stellar. I never mind playing the two chair to a good first. Then I work extra hard to make the lead sound better.

I typically try to get one of the eight or nine sax solos in a typical gig everytime just to make me work harder. Fortunately, so far, we have very nice people who share the wealth. I bought a copy of Misty for the band so that I could play the solo, but it was so easy that a late bloomer wanted it. She did a really good job of it too, really stepped up to the plate.

[saxofunk]

Is the lead altoist the band leader?
If so, ask him what he wants to hear, then do that... or move on to a different situation where your style is appreciated.
If not, tell him that it's not his issue, the band leader seems to like your style.

[Hurling Frootmig]

Normally, the lead alto is the leader of the sax section. That doesn't necessarily make them right and not everyone can lead. In my summer group our lead alto moved to Bari and we pretty much still considered him the leader of our section.

[AbrahamFackle]

Naw, he's not the leader of the band, but he thinks he is. The section is excellent from . The band leader is too timid to say anything regarding anyones playing, but he must like mine because he gives me a lot of solos. I do crack notes up there from time to time but for the most part my top octave is clean and in tune. I'm not going to change anything; I was just venting. I'm glad to get some support and sympathy from my fellow baritonists.

[dirty]

"there's a reason Mulligan and Cuber don't play any altissimo notes"

Heh. I saw Cuber with the Mingus Big Band. They opened up with Moanin'. Cuber spent much of his solo screaming in the stratoshphere. Clearly your alto player has never really listened to Cuber. Ever.

Wail on brother!

[Brendan Muse]

The proper response is "But I'm not Mulligan or Cuber, I'm Abraham Fackle. I can play whatever I want and there's nothing you can do about it." He sounds like an arrogant a*****e. Take him down a peg or three.

[TWINE]

I agree that the altoist's comments regarding cuber were naive, but to play devil's advocate (and I mean no offense to you), do you think there is a possiblity that he's simply making an objective comment about your tone in the altissimo range?

Much like your voice, you really doesn't really know exactly how you sound until listening to a taped recording of yourself, at least in my experience. Perhaps you might consider asking the other members of the band what they thought of your solo?