Last week I managed to get my mirror image Italian tenors—an Orsi-stencilled La Monte and a mystery Gallotone—hung in my foyer. I had the brilliant idea that they would look good on opposite sides of the mirror. Add a 1960s ashtray and a couple of reupholstered chairs that originally came from the Hotel Vancouver’s Lounge, and voilà, the space now screams: Hey, you’ve now entered a musical home.
I also have a 1960s amber, globe, swag lamp that matches the ash tray, that’s still hanging in the other house. Eventually I’ll move it over, and hang it so that swags over the centre of the mirror.
In the mirror you can just barely make out a reflection of a mounted poster. It is 1 of 3 part series that Vandoren brought out a number of years ago to market their Traditional, Java, and V16 reeds. I had them dry mounted, and instead of hanging in my studio like they have for years, they now hang in the foyer leading down the hall towards my new studio.
In the foreground you’ll also notice a framed quartet of saxophone pins. These are the now-discontinued, Selmer Mark VI reproductions that were being sold for years by Future Primitive. They were the most accurate saxophone pins I have ever seen. You can still find them popping up on eBay from time to time.
There is a really long wall that runs the entire width of the house to where my studio is. That’s the last area to get decorated with musical paraphernalia. I’ve started putting the various photos that I have left up on the wall in the hallway. Over time I’m going to get a few of my best pictures printed, and then I’ll frame those and hang them up as well. Because the hall is about 40′ long, this will be an on-going project.
As I sit in my office, a room that used to be my music room when I was a teenager—my parents had this room soundproofed when they built the house—I can’t help but think that my parents, my dad especially, would be really pleased with how I’m making the house my own now.
