An Interesting Hard Copy Bass Sax Resource

The January/February 1990 issue of the Saxophone Journal, Vol. 14, No. 4, was an issue dedicated to the bass saxophone. Imagine that ❗  1990 ❗  This was before the bass sax saw the resurgence in popularity that it’s currently seeing (in part, no doubt, thanks to the Internet). This was also when the Saxophone Journal was only $4.50 ❗  (But that’s a post for another day…)

If you’re a bass sax player, and you haven’t read this issue, you should do so. Although the issue is out of print, you can still order it from the publisher, Dorn Publications. For $8.95 (plus shipping and handling) they will send you a photo copy of the original journal.

The articles in that issue are really quite good, and contain information not available anywhere else.

Dorn Publication provides the following list of articles in that issue:

Jean-Marie Londeix Artist in Residence
An Historical Celebration of the Bass Saxophone-Paul Cohen
An Interview with Bass Saxophone Specialist Spencer Clark-Robert Williams
Walter Hartley’s SONATINA GIOCOSA for Bass Saxophone-Laura Hunter
Making a Bass Saxophone Pad-Emilio Lyons
Beauty and the Bass:Jazz Improvisation-Scott Robinson
1990 Saxophone Journal Buyer’s Guide
The Changing Role of the Bass Saxophone-David Robinson
Theme and Variations of the Bass Saxophone Mouthpiece-Ralph Morgan
Writing for Bass Saxophone-Bill Holcombe
The Joy of Playing Basso-David Bilger
Bass Saxophone Publications-David Demsey
Bass Saxophone Record Reviews by Mel Martin, David Liebman, Joseph Viola, Paul Wagner and Tim Price 

One of the reasons I used to buy the Saxophone Journal was because of the ads, and this issue doesn’t disappoint in that regard.

Starting on page 61, a number of mouthpiece manufacturers promote their products. (BTW, this is a nice tie-in with the article that Ralph Morgan wrote titled: “Theme and Variations of the Bass Saxophone Mouthpiece”.) 

What I found interesting is the full page ad on page 62 by Rico. The page’s layout is mostly photos of reeds and 2 mouthpieces: the Rico Royal Graftonite & Metalite baritone pieces. While the photos were not really exciting in any way, it was the column of text that I found rather interesting:

Arnold Brilhart Speaks About the Bass Sax Mouthpiece and Related Products Marketed by Rico Products

Legendary mouthpiece maker, Arnold Brilhart, who currently works as a consultant and product developer for the Roy J. Maier Corporation, states “There are very few bass saxophone players who play bass saxophone mouthpieces. Of the eighteen players who I have either worked with (including the great Adrian Rollini), or contacted recently, most of them used baritone mouthpieces and reeds. They include: John E. Lowe, Jack Nimitz, John M. Setar, Jack B. Wadsworth, Gene Cipriano, Jay Migliori, John Mitchell, Vince Giordano, Spencer Clark, Arthur Rollini (brother of Adrian Rollini), Dave Robinson, Bob Tricarico, Scott Robinson, Don Sodice (Tex Beneke Band), Dominick Cifarelli (Yerkes Flotilla Band of the 1920s), Adrian Rollini, and John Clarke.

The only companies that might still be producing a bass saxophone mouthpiece are the old timers like Selmer, Woodwind, or Babbitt. Our company used to make bass saxophone reeds, but we haven’t produced them for several years. I addition, all of the bass sax mouthpieces that I have ever heard of were made of hard rubber.

I owned and played a bass saxophone in my high school band days, and even at the time the instrument, when played using a regular bass saxophone mouthpiece, sounded very stuffy and out of tune. I chose a good baritone mouthpiece, and using baritone reeds and its transformation into a good playing bass saxophone which played in tune in all registers, was amazing!

When I worked with the California Ramblers (around 1924), Adrian Rollini played a baritone mouthpiece and reed on his bass sax. In my opinion, and that of many other musicians, Adrian was probably the best bass saxophone player of all time. He even played a complete line of altissimo harmonics on the bass sax, which at the time was a rare occurance [sic]. But even before my experience with the California Ramblers, I worked with the Yerkes Flotilla Orchestra (1921-22), and our bass sax player was Dominick Cifarrelli, who also played a baritone mouthpiece on his bass sax. He was a fine concert player who played with the Creatori Band.

Our new baritone saxophone mouthpieces, marketed by Rico, are ideally suited for use on the bass saxophone. They include the baritone Grantonite [sic] B5 and B7 baritone mouthpieces, and the newest Metalite M9 and M11 baritone mouthpieces. Our baritone mouthpieces use standard tenor ligatures. Recommended reeds are the baritone reeds marketed under the brand names of Rico, Rico Royal, LaVoz, or Rico Plasticover.

With Kindest Regards, I remain,

Arnold Brilhart      

If you’ve read my posts on the Rico Metalite and Graftonite mouthpieces, you know that I have used them exclusively on bari for years. But…an M11 for bass? That bass player would have to have amazing chops, because the M11 was too open for me on bari, and I’m a very solid bari player. On bass it would kill me. I know the M11 is too open for many bari players, so I don’t know why you’d ever try it on bass,   but whatever…

I have never tried my Rico mouthpieces on my Buescher bass. For the first 5+ years I used the customized baritone Runyon piece that Paul Coats included with the horn when I bought it from him. More recently, I have been using a customized baritone piece, also made from a Runyon 88 blank, that Ed Svoboda from Chicago Mouthpieces developed.  

Over the next few weeks I will try the 2 Ricos on my bass, and compare and contrast them to the pieces from Paul and Ed, and also to the original Geo Bundy bass m/p that I have. I’ll post my results on my blog when done.  

Despite the 1990 bass saxophone edition of the Saxophone Journal being dated, it is still good resource for bass sax players. In this day of instant access to everything, we sometimes forget that there is still valuable information out there that is not available electronically.