As saxophone players, we need to be able to use both hands when we play our instruments. If something were to happen, say if we were to lose our right hand in an accident, or have a left-sided stroke, then we would no longer be able to play our horns.
A Saxophone Player With Only 1 Hand
That’s exactly what happened to professional sax player Charlie Borzillire, from Silver Creek, NY. In 2004 Borzillire suffered a stroke, which left him unable to use his right hand. The result: Borzillire’s career as a rockin’ tenor player came to a screeching halt, and it would be 2 years before he would pick up a horn again.
By 2011, Borzillire’s family had secured enough money to have a saxophone specially customized for him. The work was done by Brian Russell, of Russell Winds in Winneconne, Wisconsin.
Earlier this month Russell posted a video to YouTube, in which he gave a mini-tour of his shop, and talked about the creation of Borzillire’s left-handed tenor saxophone. The customized-Selmer is quite remarkable—and remarkably simple actually. (Compared to the right-handed Yamaha that I wrote about in April 2011.)
Another Professional Saxophone Player Facing The Same Challenge
I should mention that after I wrote about the custom Yamaha, I received an email from the brother of a well-known sax player. For privacy reasons, we’ll call this saxophonist, John.
John had suffered a stroke, and could no longer play. John’s brother asked me if I knew of any shops offering saxophone customizations for players with hand impairments.
Going back in history, just after WWI, the Oscar Adler company was making saxophones with duplicate keys for veterans returning with finger injuries. Check out this Triumph model alto, to see how intricate some of their fingering systems could be.
Music’s Healing Powers
Music can be incredibly healing, and getting a musician to be able to play again, can return much more than their musical function. Once Borzillire started to play sax again, his communication improved, and he was able to form longer sentences. He also began participating more in physical therapy; became more motivated; and regained his driver’s license.
There is undoubtedly a niche market for customized saxophones, aimed at players with impaired hand or finger function. My hope is that one day, at least 1 high-end saxophone manufacturer will offer both left and right-handed saxophones for players with hand impairments.
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Written in part through information found at:
Jazz Artist Set To Perform At Area Winery, August 8, 2012, The Post-Journal.
Recovering stroke victim continues his crescendo, thanks to SUNY Fredonia music ensemble, February 10, 2010 Campus Report, Fredonia.edu
Brilliant design! Thank you for posting this. It’s great that you were able to do this and let a musician keep expressing himself. To share a story – In late 1998, John Ashcraft of Mercer Music in Ewing, NJ designed and built a left-handed alto for saxophonist Eric Maybury, who had lost the use of his right arm to cancer. Ashcraft’s horn relied on a triangle-shaped key worked by the left thumb, that allowed the player to get D,E,F, and F#. I only saw the horn once – I don’t remember how the Eb – Low C mechanism worked.
Here is a link to Eric’s wife’s recent TED talk about their journey, and about the sax:
Hi Alan. Welcome to my site.
Thanks so much for sharing this.
It’s interesting to find out just how many of these horn were built for people over the years—all by different designers.
I have a couple more in my files too I believe, that I haven’t had a chance to write about. These stories are all so inspirational.
The moment someone introduces production one-handed instruments, you know what’s going to happen — someone’s going to channel Roland Kirk and play two of them at once. I know that’s what I’d (at least try to) do if I had the money.