Yesterday there were protests in the streets of Adolphe Sax’s homeland. Brussels was filled with shouting, drumming, whistling, marching, and chanting, as workers protested the Belgium government’s proposed austerity measures.
Kevin Vanden captured some great photos yesterday, and posted them to his Flickr account. No, Vanden is not a professional photographer. He is a 20-year-old political science major, who just happens to like music and photography.
This love of music and photography blends together perfectly, in the following photo that Vanden took of a bari sax player who participated in the protests. I don’t know who this bari player is, but I’m guessing she does more than play in the occasional street protest.
Photography by Kevin Vanden Source: Flickr
Her Conn New Wonder is keyed up to high F, and it has something like a Francois Louis mouthpiece on it. If you look on the Mouthpiece Museum website, you can see a high baffle, sterling silver, soprano, Francois Louis mouthpiece, that looks remarkably similar. I’m guessing this woman is playing the bari version of this piece. The company’s website doesn’t show metal mouthpieces currently in production, so I suspect that this bari player has either had her mouthpiece for a while, or bought it used.
Combine the horn choice—which in Europe is harder to come by, and quite expensive compared to here—with the mouthpiece, and I’m guessing you’ve got a player who has quite a few years playing experience under her belt. I wonder what kind of music she plays? Does she play in a band?
If anyone has seen or heard this bari sax player, or has heard of her, feel free to chime in with a comment. It would be interesting to find out more about her. BTW, in Vancouver we also have a baritone player who plays at protests. He plays a low A horn however, and that’s a whole lot heavier to carry around for hours at a time.
Hi Helen,
I think the pedigree of the horn itself needs a bit of research. That is definitely not a Conn like any I have ever seen. The key work looks like a Martin handcraft—please note that the alternate E-flat key is directly linked on the front of the lower stack and not around the back. (Coincidentally, both models have the “Mercedes” key guard on the low C that the one in the picture doesn’t have.)
The bell brace should be a clue—it is like nothing I have ever seen from any American brand of sax. If we focus on this, perhaps a better identification could be made.
Or maybe it is a “Franken-sax” that had been customized at some point?
Peace,
paul
Hi Leon,
As an alternative, it might be a King Zephyr.
No mercedes-C, double socket on crook, X-shaped bell brace.
Excellent dark sound suited for the occasion, due to the width of the bell.
Theo,
I think you got it. I had forgotten that the later “Zephyr” has that brace, and everything else matches up. Although it is difficult to tell from the lighting, the keycups could be the right shape.
Here’s a page (saxquest) with pictures of one under studio lighting conditions. King Zephyr Baritone 195XXX
Here’s a link to a brochure for King New “Zephyr” Model Eb Baritone No. 1007 on the H. N. White site that seems to feature the same. http://www.hnwhite.com/King/serial%20number%20pics/zephyr%20bari.jpg
PS
There are a king zephyr bari sax completely refurbished and a King Marigaux Bari Sax currently available on eBay that have similar bell braces.
Hi Paul,
Think I found the original saxophone in the picture
in an ad in the German part of Belgium.
Notice the ring 5 cm below the rim of the bell.
Difficult to see in this small size but it is visible in the picture of the B&W protest photo.
Serial number: 340xxx.
Nice how the original picture connects people from all over the world.
I can’t get away with anything can I? 😉 You have a way of keeping me honest. 😆 Seriously though, all I can say is…
I must admit, I took a quick look at the split bell keys, and the X-brace joining the bell to the body, and went with Conn New Wonder. I was more interested in the mouthpiece. That was where I concentrated my research efforts, because I was fascinated in it.
The X bell to body brace does look like those we see on the 14M bass saxophones. Admittidly I haven’t paid a lot of attention to New Wonder baris. Now that you mention it, I see that the NW bari has a straight bell to body brace. Yes, now that I look, 😉 I see it doesn’t have a Mercedes-style low C key guard.
@ Theo: You may be on to something with the King idea, but I’m not sure if the key cups are classically King shaped or not.
Hi Helen,
You can not judge a saxophone from one picture, but this is realy a intriguing one. In style it echos Eisenstein.
The lines of the mouthpiece and crook are paired with that of the trombone. Which draws your eyes to this part of the picture (if you play saxophone it has the double effect).
Now the double socket detail of the crook gives a smoother transition in lines than a single socket.
It is just poetry in saxophones.
After looking at a lot of baritone saxophones I found that a double socket on the crook is rare, probably because it has less function than with a tenor or alt as the crook is much smaller.
It is used in parts of two Zephyr series. Looking at details of Zephyr baritone picture I saw that the location of the octave keys moved.
I have seen this travell also on Conn 6M crooks and a nice example is in Bassic sax pictures, the last picture of the Max Keilwerth President 51xx series.
One effect of this traveling octave key is a change in tone color. The further away the octave key travels from the mouthpiece the darker the sound.
Going back to the original picture, it must be a very dark baritone saxophone.
Hi Helen,
The mouthpiece is indeed very rare, they where custom made.
Ronnie Cuber is known to play one.
The mouthpiece in the picture could be a prototype as Francois Louis lives in the same city as where the picture was taken.
Thanks Theo.
Other than the few pics on the Mouthpiece Museum, I didn’t find any other references to them. But I must admit, I didn’t spend a great deal of time doing research either.
I found it an interesting juxtaposition: this mouthpiece & horn, in a protest march. This is the kind of set-up I would expect to see at perhaps jazz festival or club.