I bought this tenor from my friend Tony at Maggini Supplies a few years ago. He had recently sold me the alto version of this and knew I would be interested. As always I’m interested in unusual vinatage instruments and this fits the description well. Continue reading
Filed under: Selmer Pennsylvania Special (Kohlert) | Tagged: Amati, Kohlert, Pennsylvania Special, Saximus Maximus, saxophone, Selmer, tenor saxophone | 28 Comments »
Kate plays this Selmer Pennsylvania baritone saxophone in the Earley Music Centre Big Band, having just moved back from the front row alto section. Ours is a rehearsal band which plays occasional concerts to friends and family, having an annual outing to the Victoria Embankment Gardens in Westminster, London. We play a good variety of big band music from swing to blues to pop and jazz. Our conductor is Tom Benellick who famously played bugle on the Beatles Sgt Pepper band. Continue reading
Filed under: Selmer Pennsylvania Special (Kohlert) | Tagged: baritone saxophone, Karl Meyer, Kohlert, Saximus Maximus, Selmer | Leave a comment »
I noticed my friend Tony at Maggini Supplies had this for sale in his ebay shop. I’ve bought a number of saxophones from him over the years, as readers of these reviews can discover. Instead of meeting up in person, this time the horn was delivered by courier – well packed and protected. The price was low because is was advertised in poor condition, so I ended up spending as much on having it repadded and put in playing condition by my sax fixer-upper. Continue reading
Filed under: Lyrist Briard Soloiste | Tagged: Adolphe Sax, Adolphe-Edward Sax, Bb Soprano, Briard, French Republican Guard, Lyrist, Soloiste | 2 Comments »
Kate plays saxophone in the Earley Music Centre Big Band. She’s been sitting on the front row with the altos in front of us tenor players for years, although she’s just moved to baritone – so we’re also going to review of her Selmer Pennsylvania Special here. Ours is a rehearsal band which plays occasional concerts to friends and family, having an annual outing to the Victoria Embankment Gardens in Westminster, London. We play a good variety of big band music from swing to blues to pop and jazz. We’re lucky to have Tom Benellick as our conductor. Continue reading
Filed under: Dolnet Belair | Tagged: Alto, Belair, Dolnet, Mantes | 11 Comments »
We’re very pleased to bring you a review of this excellent, unusual German saxophone written by Peter Chadwick – a keen player based in the West country…
I bought this instrument from eBay out of curiosity (it wasn’t expensive!). I have become a fan of European saxophones after dumping my Martin to buy a Selmer Pennsylvania Special (see an earlier article by Saxuimus Maximus). I have been unable to discover much about pre-war Kohlert instruments although there is a lot of company history to read if you are that way inclined. I understand that during the late 1920’s Kohlert used the year of manufacture as the model name. I have seen pictures of a “Modell 1926” and a “Modell 1928” – mine is a “Modell 1927” and doesn’t look much like the others. Continue reading
Filed under: Kohlert Modell 1927 | Tagged: alto saxophone, Germany, Graslitz, Kholert, Peter Chadwick, Saximus Maximus | 6 Comments »
This was made by Julius Keilwerth in Germany in 1957. I bought this from Tony at Maggini Supplies around 2001. It was at the beginning of my quest to acquire all historic and unusually saxophones. As usual I made a trip to our local reservoir on a Sunday morning to pick the instrument up from the ack of Tony’s car. Continue reading
Filed under: Keilwerth Crestone Toneking | Tagged: alto saxophone, Crestone, Germany, Keilwerth, keyguard, Toneking | 26 Comments »
The Snakey Spat Band was a fantastic funk band playing in Abingdon from the mid 1970s and the first real band I played in, joining at the age of 17. Poignantly it split up in 1979 in the same week Dexies Midnight Runners reached no 1 in the singles chart. It contained great musicians, including Tim Cairns, Squirrel, Dave Ball and George Day. The horn players included Murray Powell, John WIld, Pat Kelly and his son Julian, Andy Kinch, Andy Miller and Pat Crumley – my saxophone teacher: so I was very lucky to be good enough to play with them. Shortly after the band split Tim and George started the Big Boys Blues Band, playing blues and soul music and I’m still playing in that horn section today, moving from alto to tenor over the years. In the early 1990s I decided to buy a Mark VI to play when needed. Anyone who’s read my review of my Evette and Schaeffer bari can see why I couldn’t use that one. Continue reading
Filed under: Selmer Mk VI | Tagged: baritone saxophone, Howath, Mark VI, Saximus Maximus, Selmer | 4 Comments »
I bought this horn from Tony at Maggini Supplies in 2005. At the time I was building my collection and very keen on Selmer, which made the best saxophones of all – especially the Mark VI, which beat all comers from the late 1950s onwards. Continue reading
Filed under: Selmer Pennsylvania Sepecial (Kohlert) | Tagged: alto saxophone, Keilwerth, Magginisupplies, Pennsylvania Special, Saximus Maximus, Selmer | 43 Comments »
This is a recent acquisition. I’ve owned a ‘naked lady’ alto for a number of years and jumped at the chance of buying a great big sounding tenor from one of the key American saxophone makers. I’ve played this once so far – it has the loudest, fullest sound of all the tenors I own. Continue reading
Filed under: Buescher True Tone Series IV | Tagged: Buescher, Saximus Maximus, tenor saxophone, True Tone | 3 Comments »
My friend Tony H brough this round the other day. He’s owned the horn for about 3 months. Unlike me he’s a transient collector, preferring to own just one tenor and one alto at any particular time.
He associates Martin horns with Art Pepper – a player he remembers from the 1950s. He had a melodic and light innovative sound – very different from Charlie Parker and his many imitators who were all the rage at the time. I definitely agree, having many Art Pepper albums. The poor man’s personal life was unfortunately in stark contrast to his beautiful horn playing. He also noted that a number of British dance band players used Martins in the post war years. Continue reading
Filed under: Martin 'The Martin' (Committee III) | Tagged: alto saxophone, Committee III, Martin, Saximus Maximus, The Martin | 5 Comments »
Saximus Maximus 