You can use a low Bb bari for rock. One of the most popular session players in LA, David Woodford, uses his low Bb Selmer Mk VI with a low A extension that Paul Coats devised. Here's a link to how to make it: http://www.bassic-sax.ca/low_a.html
Having said that, I have both a low Bb and a low A bari. I like both of them, but for different reasons. I tend to use my low Bb for jazz and my low A for rock/blues...But that has more to do with what each sounds like than anything else. I've got a Selmer VI low Bb, and a Medusa low A. The Medusa has a much edgier tone and lends itself better to the blues band that I play in. However, before I got the Medusa, I always used the Selmer, and that held it's own in a rock/blues environment.
Play the Keilworth. See if you like it. Compare it to the horns you've played in the past. The best comparison would be of course be to compare a low Bb and a low A side by side and pick the one you like better.
Either way, don't let the perceived need for a low A determine the horn you get. Pick the one that you like the sound of better. (Assuming that the horns are close in action, set up, quality, etc. etc.)
Having said that, I have both a low Bb and a low A bari. I like both of them, but for different reasons. I tend to use my low Bb for jazz and my low A for rock/blues...But that has more to do with what each sounds like than anything else. I've got a Selmer VI low Bb, and a Medusa low A. The Medusa has a much edgier tone and lends itself better to the blues band that I play in. However, before I got the Medusa, I always used the Selmer, and that held it's own in a rock/blues environment.
Play the Keilworth. See if you like it. Compare it to the horns you've played in the past. The best comparison would be of course be to compare a low Bb and a low A side by side and pick the one you like better.
Either way, don't let the perceived need for a low A determine the horn you get. Pick the one that you like the sound of better. (Assuming that the horns are close in action, set up, quality, etc. etc.)
