A Saxophone Quote To Ponder

This morning I happened across a saxophone quote that was so unusual, that it got my attention. In his book, How to construct a coffin with six karate chops, author Jarod Kintz offers up the following food for thought:

When I’m lonely I stand in the corner and play my saxophone and feel sorry for myself. I would ask you to accompany me on the piano, but if I did that I wouldn’t be lonely, would I? And what’s the point of a saxophone if not to celebrate despair?

Source: goodreads.com

Does the saxophone celebrate despair? I think all of us can attest to the fact that nothing conveys this emotion better than the solo blues saxophone sound…

Kintz’s saxophone quote aside, our instruments convey another emotion very well as well: sexiness. In fact, it conveys it so well that movies and television use the saxophone to inform the viewer of building sexual intensity between characters. In daytime programming saxophone solos are often used as a segue to the next scene: no bedroom scene required, as it’s been implied through the smoking hot sax.

For Hollywood and television soundtracks, usually the processed sounds of a smooth jazz saxophone are used—like they were in the David Foster’s, St. Elmo’s Fire Love Theme (1985).

OK, so the saxophone really can convey emotions that are quite opposite on the emotional scale. (Arguably there are a number of others as well that are worth a separate article.) Why is that? Why can a trumpet, trombone, clarinet, or flute not do that?

I would argue that the reason for the saxophone’s ability to convey such a wide range of emotions stems from it being the instrument that is most similar to the human voice. I would venture one step further and state perhaps the secret to its success in this area is its conical bore.

Am I nuts? :loco:  Am I onto something? Any thoughts or ideas you care to share?