{"id":47642,"date":"2018-11-19T09:52:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T17:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=47642"},"modified":"2024-06-25T11:25:29","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T18:25:29","slug":"my-h-couf-bari-gets-its-jazz-festival-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2018\/my-h-couf-bari-gets-its-jazz-festival-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"My H. Couf Bari Gets Its Jazz Festival Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend was a busy one for me, as the holiday performance season got underway on Sunday. However, what overshadowed my first Christmas show yesterday, was Saturday’s performance by The Moonliters at the West Coast Big Band Festival<\/a>. That show was the first time my H. Couf bari was played at a jazz festival since I got it from Paul Maslin at PM Woodwinds<\/a>, just three short weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Moonliters big band preforming at the West Coast Big Band Festival, November 17, 2018. Source: West Coast Big Band Festival<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Normally by now I would already have a set of photos taken of any new horn I bought, and quite possibly even have posted those pics on my website\u2014or at a minimum on my Flickr account. However, because I really wanted to play the H. Couf bari at this particular festival, I was putting in a lot of time on the horn getting to know its nuances, and intonation tendencies so I could play it with 100% accuracy.<\/p>\n

Mission accomplished. In short my new baby absolutely rocked. It anchored the sax section with edge and distinction, and had tons of volume to spare that even when playing at FFF, I could easily have played even louder without pitch distortion or intonation compromise.<\/p>\n

The H. Couf bari is a totally different type of sax compared to any baritone I have ever played before, which is why I needed to spend some time learning how to get the most out of this bad boy. It plays and sounds nothing like my Committee III or my Mark VI. It’s its own thing altogether.<\/p>\n

Have I got it totally figured out yet? I’d be lying if I said I did. So far the horn is responding best with my SS Berg and Rico Plasticover Reeds. Time will tell if that’s what my permanent set-up will be, but I suspect so.<\/p>\n

I have some Christmas shows where the H. Couf bari will be used, and another that I’ll likely use my Mark VI on. (Complete with scroll shank MP no less, since it’s a classical performance to accompany a choir.)<\/p>\n

All this playing is allowing me to get to know my newest horn really well. I must admit, it is a blast to play, and way more fun than most baris I’ve ever encountered. Why? It has that tonal uniqueness that we get from vintage horns, which makes them stand out from today’s same old, same old… But despite being a vintage horn, its ergos are a lot more friendly than some that I’ve played, e.g.: Martin, Conn, or King.<\/p>\n

Based on my experience, I would say if you’re in the market for a new-to-you bari, if there’s one in your area, definitely give a H. Couf\u2014or Armstrong equivalent such as the Heritage\u2014a play-test. You might well be as smitten as I am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This weekend was a busy one for me, as the holiday performance season got underway on Sunday. However, what overshadowed my first Christmas show yesterday, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[734],"tags":[618,292,151,732,677,644,218,198,661,643,31],"class_list":["post-47642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-moonliters","tag-baritone-saxophone","tag-big-band","tag-german-saxophones","tag-herb-couf-superba-ii","tag-julius-keilwerth","tag-photos","tag-stencil-horn","tag-stencil-saxophone","tag-styles-of-saxophone-playing","tag-vintage-horns","tag-vintage-sax"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t