I am fascinated with the saxophone bashing that went on in the early part of the 20th century—during the sax-happy 1920’s, and the continued backlash the decade thereafter. Hey, everybody’s gotta have a hobby, I guess. 😯
While pouring through the Google newspaper archives yesterday, I happened across the following piece published in the May 5, 1925 edition of the Edmonton Journal. Like so many of the previous stories that I’ve written about, this one too comes to us from the United States of America.
I don’t know what it was about the Americans that lived in the early part of the 20th century, but some sure didn’t like the saxophone. For them, saxophone bashing could take a physical form, and was almost like a sport, similar to hunting.
In the story in question, some fine folks from Atlanta, Georgina kicked things up a notch, and so brutally assaulted each other, that one person was in danger of dying of his injuries. (He may have died. I have not been able to find any follow-ups for this particular newspaper article.)
Source: Edmonton Journal, May 5, 1925
Needless to say, even the nameless author of this piece was no fan of the saxophone. He had likely heard one too many Brown Brothers tunes by then…
There is something about a saxophone that makes people either burst into tears or cheerfully do murder.
… OK, maybe I can see it. If all I heard day in and day out was saxophones playing ragtime, maybe I too could see myself committing “cheerful murder“. 😉
Clearly I’m joking with my last comment, but this article might be a good way for us to reflect on our neighbours, and what we do that might possibly annoy them. (I’m not necessarily talking about practicing altissimo or multiphonics with or without amplification.) 
Perhaps what we’re doing isn’t related to our being musicians at all. How are things where you live? What kinds of things do you do to keep the peace?
