Yup, Still Alive

Hi everyone. I just wanted everyone know that I am still alive. So far 2020 has been anything but what I expected. 

I have been out of the country due to an extreme illness and eventual death in the family. Needless to say writing anything here, or even doing anything music-related has been impossible. 

That said, I did manage to visit my friends Kat and Ed De Vaney at Bellingham Wind Works a couple of times. They were an island of tranquilly in a sea of confusion and sadness. I was even able to play a type of saxophone I had never played before: a contrabass. 

Although the Orsi contra was interesting—more about that on another day—the horn that stole my heart was a stencil horn by Julius Keilwerth that was made for Sears Roebuck and sold through their catalogues back in the day. Yup, my favourite horn that they currently have is a Silvertone tenor sax with rolled tone holes.

I spent a good hour playing the shit out of the Silvertone. Why? Because I needed a mental health break, and Ed and Kat were kind enough to let me come in and play test their horns.

I really did like the Theo Wanne refaced Dukoff Miami 9 MP I was using with the horn. I used that same MP while trying out their other tenors (and they had a lot of very fine vintage and modern tenors that I quite liked). More about all this on another day as well. 

Included in this more about list, are vintage Dukoff MPs. I must admit I have not kept up with what’s going on with them. I had no idea that these have been steadily increasing in price. Why? That’s a good question, and one I am going to explore in a coming article. 

When all was said and done, I would estimate I spent a good 4 hours at Bellingham Wind Works over the course of two days, just before I left the US to come back home. No, I didn’t leave empty handed, and no, I didn’t buy the Silvertone—although I was tempted. Nor did I buy the refaced D9 tenor piece.

I did pick up a couple of vintage Dukoff pieces that Theo Wanne refaced however. I finally found the alto and a soprano pieces that I have been looking for for years. Yeah!

After I’ve caught up on my 1,000+ emails—no, I’m not being hyperbolic here—and I get back into the flow of working for David as his Education Rep two days a week, I will write the articles that are percolating in my brain right now. In the meantime, enjoy a couple more shots of sax porn. 😉