[Dixielandjazz] Re: Clarinet vs. Sax

[Michael Woitowicz]

Listmates:

Another Lurker comes out of the woods.

The clarinet vs. Sax thread has been interesting.

On one of the latest comments, "Snogpitch" said in part: "I have to admit,
I'm a fan of the clarinet over the sax.  But, there is one
sax player I have to admire, Rudy Wiedoeft."

This reminded me of the great solo of Wiedoeft's "Saxophobia" by Rob Verdi
on the Side Street Strutters' CD "Live in Concert." Verdi plays the tune at
mach speed using a curved sopranino. The string bass player in my group, the
Banjo Barons Ragtime Band, saw him play this tune in Vegas at the Musician's
Union Convention several years ago, and said it was almost an unbelievable
performance.

I bought the CD and became fascinated with the tune. I obtained the music,
transposed it to a more Banjo friendly key, and now play it as a Ragtime
tune (a lot slower tempo than Verdi's arrangement). It's a lot of fun, and
for a long time I was announcing the fact that I was the only string player
playing this tune. One day, I was rummaging through some old LP's and I came
across one of my old Stomp Off LP's featuring banjoist Tom Stuip from
Holland with his "Roaring 20's" oriented band recorded in 1987. There on
Side B was Saxophobia, played by his sax player as well as a chorus on the
plectrum banjo by Stuip.

So much for being the first banjo player to play the tune!

Mike Woitowicz
The Banjo Barons Ragtime Band
The Dixie Barons Dixieland Band
www.banjomusic.biz