Sidney Bechet
Benny Carter
John Coltrane
Paul Desmond
Jimmy Dorsey
Stanley Getz
Coleman Hawkins
Johnny Hodges
Lee Konitz
Gerry Mulligan
Charles C. "Bird" Parker
Sonny Rollins
Wayne Shorter
Zoot Sims
Sonny Stitt
Ben Webster
Phil Woods
Lester Young
Recent Jazz/Crossover Artists:
Joe Lovano
Branford Marsalis
Michael Brecker
James Carter
Joshua Redman
Dave Koz
Kenny G
Joe Henderson
Frank Morgan
Bob Berg
Kenny Garrett
Kirk Whalum
Gerald Albright
David Sandborn
Chris Potter
Nick Brignola
Influences
1814 - Antoine-Joseph (Adolphe) Sax born 6 November, Dinant, Belgium
1828 - Sax begin studies instrument-making with his father, Charles-Joseph
1834 - Adolphe Sax perfects bass-clarinet design
1842 - Sax arrives in Paris
1842 - 12 June--Sax's close friend Hector Berlioz writes article in Paris magazine Journal des Debats describing Sax's newest invention--the saxophone
1844 - 3 February--Berlioz conducts concert which features an arrangement of his choral work Chant Sacre which includes saxophone
1844 - December--Saxophone makes its orchestral debut in Georges Kastner's opera Last King of Juda; Paris Conservatory
1845 - Sax re-tools military band by replacing oboe, bassoons, and french horns with saxhorns in Bb and Eb, producing a more homogenous sound, his idea is a success
1845 - Georges Kastner--Variations Faciles et Brillante for solo saxophone; Sextour for 2 soprano, alto, bass and contrabass saxophones
1846 - Sax granted patent for saxophone
1847 - 14 February--Saxophone school set up at "Gymnase Musical"--a military band school in Paris
1852 - Sax's annonymous benefactory dies.
1856 - Sax declares bankruptcy for the first time.
1858 - Sax becomes Professor of Saxophone at Paris Conservatory
1858 - Jean-Baptiste Singelee writes first two Paris Conservatory contest solos; Concerto (sop./ten.), Fantaisie (bari.)
1859 September 29 - Sax's son Adolphe Edouard is born.
1861 - Wagner, in lieu of 12 French Horns, uses saxophones and saxhorns in the orchestra pit at the premiere of his opera Tannhauser
1862 - Jules Demerssemann (b. Belgium 1833, d. Paris 1866)--Fantaisie sur un Theme Originale (ded. to Henri Wuille, alto)
1866 - Sax patent expires--Millereau Co. patents Saxophone-Millereau, which features a forked F# key
1867 - Nazaire Beeckman becomes Professor of Saxophone at Brussels Conservatory
1868 - Gautrot, Pierre Louis & Co.--devises screw-in pad system and mechanism inside pad cup to keep outside of pad flat
1871 - Gustav Poncelet becomes Professor of Saxophone at Brussels Conservatory after Beeckman
1873 - Sax declares bankruptcy for the second and final time.
1875 - Goumas--patented saxophone with fingering system similar to Boehm system clarinet
1881 - Sax extends his original patent--lengthens bell to include low Bb and A; also extends upward range to F# and G with use of fourth octave key
1885 - First saxophone built in U.S. from Sax patent by Gus Buescher
1886 - Association Des Ouvriers--devise right hand C trill key, and a half-tone system for first fingers of left and right hands
1887 - Association Des Ouvriers--invent tuning ring, and precursor of articulated G# Evette and Schaeffer--improve on articulated G# so that G# key can be held down while any finger of the right hand is being used, improved forked F#, invented "bis" key, added low Bb
1888 - Lecomte--invents single octave key, rollers for low Eb-C
1890 – The first known recordings of the saxophone.
1890 - Gus Buescher started the first production of saxophone thru Conn Band instruments
1894 - Adolphe Sax dies and his son Adolphe Edoaurd takes over the factory.
1896 - Eugene Coffin plays on earliest Columbia saxophone recordings
1897 - Storyville is created.
1901 - 29 January, Charles Loeffler's Divertisment espanol is premiered by Elise Hall in Boston's Copley Hall (first work commissioned by E. Hall)
1901 - Elise Hall commissions Claude Debussy to write saxophone work
1903 - Symphonia Domestica by Richard Strauss. Score includes saxophones keyed in F & C: sopr., alto (mezzo), bari., bass. *Part now exists as obbligato section for instruments keyed in Bb and Eb.
1906 - 2 January, Elise Hall premieres Legend for saxophone and orchestra by Georges Sprok
1908 - The book entitled Universal Method for Saxophone, by Paul de Ville, is first published by Carl Fisher.
1911 - During a cadenza in "Eleven O' Clock, H. Benne Henton becomes the first American saxophonist to play altissimo notes during a solo performance.
1911 - Tom Brown and the Brown Brothers saxophone sextet popularize saxophone with American public with recordings of such songs as: Bullfrog Blues, Chicken Walk, et.al.
1914 - The saxophone begins to appear in jazz bands for the first time.
1914 - Rudy Wiedoeft makes his first saxophone record
1914 - the Vatican puts the saxophone on the interdict. Horn of the Devil.
1916 - Charles Ives writes saxophone part in Symphony No. 4
1917 - Bela Bartok's The Wooden Prince is premiered; score includes alto and tenor saxes
1917 - Benjamin Vereecken's Foundation of Saxophone Playing published by Carl Fischer
1918 - Percy Grainger uses saxophone for the first time in Children's March (sopr. alto, tenor, bari., and bass)
1919 - 11 March, premiere of Debussy's Rapsodie Yves Mayeur, soloist
1920 August 29 - Jazz alto great Charlie "Bird" Parker is born in Kansas City, Kansas.
1920 – Saxophones sells extremely well, soon to be the major jazz woodwind, although the clarinet would still be more prominent through the dixieland and swing eras. School bands begin to form, using saxophones.
1922 - Saxophone used in Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition
1922 – The Selmer Model 22 is introduced, using a forged key mechanism
1923 - Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (2 altos, tenor)
1923 - Darius Milhaud writes for saxophone in Le creation du monde
1924 - Elise Hall dies
1926 September 23 - Jazz tenor great John Coltrane in born in Hamlet, North Carolina.
1926 - Puccini's Turandot includes saxophone part in score
1926 - 31 January, first performance of serious saxophone literature in New York City's Aeolian Hall by Jascha Gurewich (1896-1938)
1926 – Selmer makes the Model 26, known as the "Pea Shooter" due to the small bore.
1927 - Jazz great Stan Getz is born.
1927 - Ravel uses saxophone in his Bolero (sopranissimo, soprano, tenor)
1928 - An American in Paris by George Gershwin (alto, tenor, bari)
1928 - Marcel Mule establishes quartet along with members of the Garde Republicaine de Paris
1928 - The Sax factory is bought by the Henri Selmer Company.
1929 - Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) composes 25 Caprices for Saxophone
1930 – Selmer acquires Adolphe Sax company.
1931 – Selmer produces the Cigar Cutter, so named for the flat plate with the hole, reminiscent of a cigar tip cutter.
1932 August 23 - Eugene Rousseau is born in Blue Island, Illinois.
1933 – Selmer's octave mechanism is changed.
1933 - Marcel Mule premieres Legend by Florent Schmitt (written for Elise Hall)
1935 – Selmer saxophones offer many mechanical changes, and the bell keys are put on the right side of the bell. Also, the action is balanced.
1936 - Eugene Bozza composes Aria for alto saxophone
1938 - Jascha Gurewich dies (known as composer of various saxophone works)
1938 - Saxophonist Louis Jordan leaves Chick Webb's band to form the Tympany Five, a slimmed down group that begins the rhythm & blues revolution.
1939 - Jazz saxophonist Arnold Brillhart begins design and production of mouthpieces.
1939 July 21 - Jamey Aebersold, an influential jazz saxophonist, is born.
1940 - Saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft dies in Queens, NY on February 18
1941 - Top Tones, by Sigurd Rascher is released as a study to saxophone altissimo register
1942 - Stan Getz begins playing as a professional saxophonist
1942 - Marcel Mule is appointed Professor of Saxophone at the Paris Conservatory
1943 - 18 Berbiguier Exercises is published by Mule
1944 - Eugene Bozza publishes Improvisation et Caprice for solo saxophone (used of different instruments previously)
1946 - 48 Ferling Etudes is reissued through Marcel Mule
1947 – Selmer makes the Super action Sax, another transitional model, with some changes in key leverages, but otherwise similar to the balanced action model.
1948 - Birdland (named after Charlie "Bird" Parker) opens in New York City.
1948 - Saxophonist Wild Bill Moore releases "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll".
1949 - The saxophone becomes the centerpiece sound of R&B and is used for its suggestiveness and its ability to incite a crowd into a frenzy as evidenced by Big Jay McNeely's smash "The Deacon's Hop" and the slowed down sultriness of Paul Williams "Hucklebuck".
1949 - Jazz saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Lee Konitz are released along with other artists on Miles Davis' album Birth of the Cool
1953 - Larry Teal is appointed Professor of Saxophone at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor *becoming the first American public university, tenure-track appointment; founds doctoral program
1954 - The Selmer Mark VI Saxophone begins to be produced
1955 March 4 - Jazz great Charle "Bird" Parker plays at Birdland in what will be his last public performance.
1955 March 12 - Charlie Parker dies in New York City while Watching Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra on television.
1956 - Frederick Hemke is first American saxophonist to win Premiere Prix de Saxophone at the Paris Conservatory
1956 - Selmer starts to produce the Selmer Mark VI Saxophone.
1957 - Saxophone Colossus released by jazz tenor man Sonny Rollins
1958 - John Coltrane is jazz tenor saxophonist and quartet leader on the album, Giant Steps
1958 - Erland von Koch composes Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra for Sigurd Rascher
1959 - Take Five" a Paul Desmond composition is released on the album featuring the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out
1959 - Jazz tenor legend Lester Young dies in New York on March 15
1961 - Percy Grainger dies, February 2
1962 - Eugene Rousseau studies with Marcel Mule
1963 - The Art of Saxophone Playing is published by Larry Teal
1963 - Fred Hemke is appointed to Northwestern Univ. staff
1964 - John Coltrane's A Love Supreme issued
1967 - July 17 - John Coltrane dies after suffering from severe abdominal pains.
1967 - DiPasquale Sonata is published for Tenor Sax (Southern Music)
1967 - Hartley writes and publishes Poem and Sonatina for James Houlik
1968 - Mule retires from Paris Conservatory, Deffayet takes over
1968 - Leslie Bassett's Music for Alto Saxophone and Piano is published (Peters)
1968 - Saxophonist James Stoltie hired at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music
1969 - Rascher Quartet is formed - Sigurd and Carina Rascher, Bruce Weinberger and Linda Bangs
1969 - May 19, Coleman Hawkins dies
1969 - December - 1st World Saxophone Congress Meeting, Chicago; organized by Brodie/Rousseau; *Donald Sinta elected Chairman
1970 - 2nd World Saxophone Congress Meeting, Chicago
1971 - Rosemary Lang altissimo studies published
1971 - Saxophone Concertos (Eugene Rousseau) record issued on Deutches Gramvmophon; reissued in CD 1998
1971 - 3rd WSC Meeting in Toronto
1972 - Daily Studies Teal
1973 - Nov. 8, Harvey Pittel makes Carnegie Hall debut
1973 - Fourth WSC Meeting in Bordeaux, France
1973 - Bob Berg joined Horace Silver’s band and remained there for three years, appearing on three of Silver’s albums
1974 - Larry Teal retires from the University of Michigan, Donald Sinta takes over
1974 - Ross Lee Finney composes Concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra of wind instruments for Teal's retirement. Premiered by Sinta
1975 - Milhaud dies
1975 - Cannonball Adderly dies
1975 – With the Mark VII, the bore and taper are changed to facilitate production of the altissimo register. Minor intonation improvements .
1976 - Selmer introduces the Mark VII with a standard High F# key.
1976 - Bob Berg replaced George Coleman in Cedar Walton’s classic quartet
1976 - Selmer's square-chamber mouthpieces marketed
1976 – Standard high F# key added to Mark VII.
1977 - 30 May, Desmond dies
1977 - Rascher's last performance
1978 - Houlik makes Carnegie Hall debut
1978 - Lynn Klock makes Carnegie Hall debut
1978 - Merle Johnston (b. 1897 Watertown, NY) dies (revolutionized pedagogy in the US)
1979 - James Forger premieres John Anthony Lennon's Distances Within Me
1980 - Yamaha introduces 62 series
1980 - Laura Hunter makes Carnegie Hall debut
1981 - Selmer S80 introduced
1981 - Rascher retires
1982 - Claude Delangle becomes Professor at the CNRM at Boulogne-Billancourt
1982 - Saxophone Sinfonia appears in Alice Tully Hall (D. Bilger, dir.)
1982 - 7th WSC in Nuremburg, Germany
1983 - Amercian saxophonist Steven Jordheim wins Silver Medal (top prize) at the Geneva International Competition
1984 - Larry Teal dies
1984 - Berg joined the Miles Davis band
1985 - Paul Creston dies
1986 - Selmer S80 Series II introduced
1987 – The Super Action Series II, with front "x" key more like clarinet A key, and a bent high F# key.
1988 - Claude Delangle becomes Professor of Saxophone at the Paris Conservatory
1988 - John Sampen premieres Morton Subotnick's In Two Worlds in London
1989 – The Super Action Series IIa, with left hand little finger keys.
1991 - Stan Getz dies
1992 - Berg began his work with Chick Corea’s acoustic Quartet.
1993 - Timothy McAllister and Donell Synder share 1st Prize in the NASA Young Artist Competition, Fairfax, VA
1994 - Taimur Sullivan wins 1st Prize in the NASA Young Artist Competition, Morgantown, WV
1996 - Gerry Mulligan dies
1997 - 11th World Saxophone Congress in Italy
1997 - Chris Potter wins Jazz Par Prize
1997 - Joshua Redman wins Thelonious Monk Competition
1998 - William Albright dies
2000 - 12th World Saxophone Congress in Montreal, Ontario, CANADA
2001 - Sigurd Rascher dies
2001 - Marcel Mule celebrates 100th birthday
2001 - Marcel Mule dies (December)
2001 - Joe Henderson dies
2002 - Nick Brignola dies
2007 - Michael Brecker dies
This is a space for saxophone players or bands with saxophones in it. If you´re a sax player then please be our friend and share the love with us. If you have more info about the sax timeline, please let me know. Thanks.
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im a alto sax player and im getting my instrument upgraded. ive been playing for almost 2 years and i have a budget of $2500. im looking for a good quality, nice looking sax. help? just send me a message. thanks (and thanks for the add)
