[Dixielandjazz] C Melody Sax and the Eb Alto sax

[Mike C.]

Nice Post J.D. I have a few more questions:

1. Why didn't the C melody make the transition? Was it because it didn't 
blend with the other saxes well?

2. It seems to me that C melody would have been much more painless to 
transpose than to the alto. When did the alto sax catch on?

3. In your opinion which was the better horn?

Lester Young, I am told originally started on Alto in his father's band. 
I have always thought that it would have been interesting to hear him on 
alto.

I think the ideal sax section would have been:

Johnny Hodges and Paul Desmond on alto sax

Lester Young and Ben Webster on Tenor Sax

Harry Carney on Baritone Sax with Pepper Adams as a close runner up

Mike



J. D. Bryce wrote:
> The C Melody is an interesting horn. Around 1910 most bands had a violinist.
> As the saxophone, and jazz-influenced music became more popular, bands saw a
> need to adapt.  Since the C Melody is pitched in concert key, many bands
> simply had their violinist learn the instrument and then simply play the
> violin part on the horn.  This is somewhat of an oversimplification, but
> still essentially true.
> 
> By around 1925, most white bands had begun to fully absorb the jazz idiom
> and had begun to use sax sections, usually 2 altos and a tenor.  This was
> relatively standard between 1925 and 1930, with two notable exceptions:
> Ellington used 5 saxes (2 altos, 2 tenors and a baritone; and Fletcher
> Henderson used 2 altos and 2 tenors. The C melody was not adaptable for such
> section work and fell out of favor.  Most manufacturers stopped making them
> by the mid-1930's.
> 
> Frankie Trumbauer was often photographed with a Conn straight-necked model
> that looks like a large alto. C melodies from Buescher and Martin had/have a
> goose neck and so looked like a small tenor.
> 
> There is a legend, which if it isn't true, it ought to be. The story goes
> that Lester Young was so impressed with Trumbauer's sound on radio and
> recordings, that he tried to sound like it.  But Young played tenor, and
> thus evolved a lighter, more airy sound that eventualy came to display the
> gruff, masculine sound that was so prevalent on tenor.  Young offered an
> alternative to the sound featured so stunningly by Coleman Hawkings and
> other tenor men of the 1930's.
> 
> As a tenor player, I enjoy Young and his disciples like Getz, Sims etc. But
> the Hawkings sound, as well as guys like charlie Ventura and Ben Webster
> just bowls me over.  It's an old sound, but still wonderful.
> 
> I have a both a Buescher and a Conn C melody.  I wouldn't part with either.
> 
> J. D. Bryce
> Waldorf, MD
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike C." <mike at michaelcryer.com>
> To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 2:11 PM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] C Melody Sax and the Eb Alto sax
> 
> 
> 
>>  Frankie Trumbauer played a C melody saxophone. Why is this horn no
>>longer being used and the Eb alto is? What were the major differences
>>between these two horns(Other than their key)?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Mike
>>
>>
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