{"id":46086,"date":"2017-06-21T11:10:44","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T18:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=46086"},"modified":"2024-06-24T10:46:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T17:46:24","slug":"abe-lyman-saxophones-should-be-instrumenta-non-grata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2017\/abe-lyman-saxophones-should-be-instrumenta-non-grata\/","title":{"rendered":"Abe Lyman: Saxophones Should Be Instrumenta Non Grata"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Abe<\/a>
Abe Lyman, 1942. Source: wikipedia.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you are a fan of original big band music, then the name Abe Lyman is likely familiar to you. Lyman was a drummer turned band leader, who had a very successful career that included: playing in the hottest clubs in California; performing on the radio starting in 1922; touring in Europe in 1929; and doing soundtrack work in the early talkies. <\/em>Before he left the music business at the age of 50, his career had spanned 36 years: from 1911 to 1947.<\/p>\n

It was in the 1930s that Abe Lyman’s band, the Lyman Orchestra, could be heard every Friday night on NBC radio’s Coast to Coast<\/em> program. Presumably it must have been during one of these NBC evening broadcasts that Lyman offered up his changed opinion on saxophones in early 1934. He certainly always appeared to have saxophones in his band with no problems at all prior to this.<\/p>\n

According to the following article from the March 2, 1934 edition of the Jewish Post<\/em><\/a>, Lyman was on a mission to rid American bands of saxophones….<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Why the sudden hatred for saxophones you ask? Well you see it all had to do with Hitler’s reversal of the saxophone ban in Germany<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He was indeed correct, and Hitler’s reversal of the saxophone ban most likely did indeed have to do with the decline of the fortunes of the German saxophone manufacturers. As a matter of fact, according to Professor of Music at City University of London, Stephen Cottrell, by 1933 German saxophone manufacturers were applying to the new government for financial assistance due to slumping sales.1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

For some reason when the information broke here in North America that the saxophone was no longer an instrumenta non grata<\/em> in Germany, this caused Abe Lyman to lose his mind as it were. He decided to lobby fellow big band leaders Paul Whiteman, George Olsen, Phil Spitalny, George Hall, Leon Basco, Emery Deutsch, Eddie Paul, Fred Berens, Al Goodman, Reggie Childs, and Guy Lombardo. The goal of this lobbying effort was to get these influential big band leaders to convince all dance bands in the US to drop saxophones from their lineups.<\/p>\n

Now I have no idea why Adolphe Hitler’s decision to allow saxophones in certain styles of music in Germany should cause Lyman to try such extreme measures.<\/p>\n

Let’s think about this logically for a moment. What would happen to the saxophone players in orchestras? I guess they would all get stuck playing clarinet, flute, and whatever other instruments they doubled on.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it would not affect players economically, but what about saxophone manufacturers in the US? Buescher, Conn, Martin, King, and all the other smaller saxophone makers would have been adversely affected had saxophones become instrumenta non grata<\/em> in America. As a matter of fact, his lobbying efforts could have potentially brought about the same economic circumstances in the US, as had occurred in Germany due to Hitler’s banning of our instrument.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, this never did occur. Abe Lyman’s lobbying efforts were not successful, and the saxophone remained a mainstay of the big band. As a matter of fact, as the big bands evolved, the saxophone section took on a much more prominent role.<\/p>\n

Huh, take that Mr. Lyman…<\/p>\n

While doing the research about Abe Lyman, I wanted to hear what the Lyman Orchestra sounded like. I was able to find the following film of them performing the Varsity Drag, circa 1927.<\/p>\n

Now besides the fact that these guys all kind of resemble Bela Lugosi’s version of Dracula<\/a>, I have to ask: What is wrong with the sax section? I know we are a rather nerdy bunch, but oh my….<\/p>\n