Buescher surprise!!

[Saxaholic]

Today I attended a jazz workshop that will be held for two weeks by one of the best local sax players. All you Phili cats might know Steve Selfridge....he plays down in Phili on Friday nights......real sweet alto player. Set up with a Mark VI, Premier Hite mouthpiece and whatever reeds he happens to have on handy. He ain't a mechanics kind of guy....slaps it all together and just plays. Anyways....

I was there, with my Cannonball Big Bell alto. Sweet horn. During the middle of the workshop, me and one of my buddies decided to switch saxes. He's alot younger than me, but it wasn't a main concern. He has an old Buescher Aristocrat alto, pretty ugly but straight with no dents.

The horn played very, very nicely!! Keywork was real nice, sound was very sweet, a little brighter than my Cannonball. Still had a great tone. The only complaints were in the extreme registers.........I had to work a little harder to get them out on the Aristocarat, but still not that big a deal. I was very pleasantly surprised!!

I'm thinking about asking to borrow the horn for a few performances later this month......I would use it in the bigger pieces.....and use my Cannonball during the ballads.

Think he'll let me borrow it? I hope so. Very nice horn, I hope he improves alot to really play the horn to it's full potential!

Saxaholic

[MusicMedic]

Gotta love those 'old bueschers'.

I have noticed that certain horns play better and better the more you get to know them; some horns you just fight or you never get to know them. A good Buescher Aristocrat is certainly one of the ones that you can settle into. You should ask him if you can borrow it and practice on it a bunch of times before that gig, then let us all know!

[Saxaholic]

Well, I must say I practiced the devil out of that horn. I used it for the many practices that I had to attend, as well as 3-5 hours at home every day.

The horn just wouldn't settle in. The intonation is a little off on A1&2, despite adjustments, key heights etc. It still had a sweet sound...but...

My Cannonball just blew it away when I took it back out. I have a solo for "I Got it Bad, And that Ain't Good" ( Johnny Hodges), and it sounded amazingly better on the Cannonball. I don't think I'll ever replace that horn. Sounds so similar to my teacher's Mark VI, that it's difficult to tell the difference. And I thought I needed a VI to sound like him ;)

The Buescher turned out to be a nice playing horn, but I simply sound better on the CB. Was worth the try though, experience is always great to have!

Saxaholic