[baristudent]

My son plays baritone sax in the band at his school and he never gets to play anything interesting (been playing at this level for 2 years). I am trying to find music for him to experiment with over the summer to show him that there is music out there for bari sax that is fun to play. He likes lively music (jazz, blues, rock).
I play a little piano so I could try to accompany him if that would help. I don't know where to start looking for music. Thanks so much for any advice.

 

[Finnerski]

Get the Jamey Aebersold "blues in all keys." A great starting point. Baritone is an E flat instrument, same as the alto so if you are having problems finding baritone music, you can always play alto sax music. All Aebersold and Hal Leonard play alongs have great choices from beginner to advanced. I think your son will enjoy playing along with the play alongs You can find an endless supply of literature on Amazon.com or Aebersold.com.

 

[cleger]

How about if you pass along some listening outside of the "mainstream" of what is played on bari? I'm thinking of things like this Vandermark 5 video (check out the bari solo about halfway in) or maybe something by Mats Gustafson and there are many other more adventerous bari players around. My thinking is that if he's interested in music from a rock perspective this may tickle his fancy more than traditional jazz (I know it worked for me).

This would be more for inspiration rather than a sheet of music to play, but I kind of got the impression that that was what was needed. That said, noodling along to recordings like this can be a lot of fun.

 

[MyMartinTenor]

First thing is he needs to listen to fun bari parts. Go check out youtube vides of Tower of Power (Doc Kupka is a monster bari player, holding down the horn section) and Ronnie Cuber. Oh heck, I'll do it, here's Cuber honking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urlnARGE1pM

Here's TOP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcmSn3qOMbE

Then for some diversity, go check out Morphine (rock band heavily featuring bari):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=985JGeGq_tc

And then go check out Mulligan for some good old school cool jazz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpkTNa2iioE

So, what inspires him? Find more of that, and then start to learn to play along. Its going to be hard to find interesting written parts for bari, but you guys can start to do a swing/funk piano/bari combo thing where he can start to make horn lines, honk out rhythms, and solo a bit -- you'd have fun.

 

[FremontSax]

http://www.woodwindforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3206

http://www.penders.com/index.php/1583/bari-solos?cPath=1583

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?8847-Best-bari-solos?s=

 

[patton45]

take a look at this song and the amazing bari at 4:55. Does not get much better than this... Discovered Maynard when I was in high school jazz band in the middle 70's. still play this cd weekly...

Craig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka2lrfshTi0

 

[Butters]

why not get him to play along with songs he likes and learn the melodies? mp3s or radio or whatever. I don't see why its important to find parts specifically written for bari.

 

[Spooner]

Another cool Bari sound/project that might not come to mind right away is the band Morphine--pretty unique stuff and very cool. Here's a sample of some of their music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnGxASoXn0

 

[Isle of Jazz]

There's always that great bari solo in Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side'.

 

[Butters]

if you try to find music written for a bari, rather than something he would enjoy playing, aren't you doing him a disservice? The point is to get him to have fun playing. I obviously can only speak for myself, but as far as inspiration goes I get it from either playing tunes I like (which in my case is largely 90s grunge/alternative), or playing in a band with friends. I really love playing bari in my band. Very few bands that have a single horn use a bari, and I think its a great sound (at least for my band). It blends with a dirty guitar sound really well, can play the bass role, really punchy etc.

 

[baristudent]

Thank you for all the wonderful information. I have a lot of research to do. I have bought songbooks but most of them have been pretty bad. He looks for my help to find music because I have a little musical background. You all have given me some wonderful starts!