[Dixielandjazz] One More Once (Or Twice)!

[Fred Spencer]

"Battle -axe. Early musicians' slang for a musical instrument, generally referring to one of the front-line wind instruments. Now more commonly shortened to ax or axe (Peter Clayton and Peter Gammond. The Guinness Jazz Companion).

1958 Publication Of The American Dialect Society, Nov.. p.43::"AX: any of the solo reed or (less commonly) brass instruments. Orig. a saxophone. From fancied resemblance in shape plus the abbr. Sax" (Robert S. Gold. Jazz Talk). Regards.

Fred