The Saxophone

Yesterday I was at a music store to get my amp fixed. After dropping it off and looking for gifts for my kids, I browsed the music book section. Beneath the bins containing the jazz compilations, I found something called The Real Book - Sixth Edition.

This is a classic fake book that I've sought for almost 30 years. Back then, it was illegal and somewhat akin to bootleg LPs, so I was surprised to find it at all. A quick scan showed that it was now legal, published by Hal Leonard, but retaining the quaint, homemade look.

I had gotten The New Real Book back in the early '90s, but didn't like it. For one thing, I got the version with few of the standards that I liked. It didn't have Take Five, Blue Monk, to name a couple.

Last night I played through Blue Monk, Cherokee, and The Blue Room and had a blast.

My purchase was rung up by a fellow who is a reedman. I related a tale of woe to him about how I began my musical career on alto saxophone. I played in the school band for 2 years, and asked my mother if I could take private lessons. She signed my up at a local music store.

The "school" consisted of a bunch of small rooms with no windows. This was the place I would take bass lessons 9 years later, by the way. My teacher would come in, close the door, light a cigarette, and have me play.

I could barely breathe! I thought this was crazy, but at that age (around 9 or 10), I didn't feel comfortable confronting an adult about something like this. Besides, my mom smoked!

I couldn't continue under this regime, so I told my mom I wanted to quit. I didn't tell her why - I was afraid to confront her smoking even indirectly.

After hearing this, the fellow at the cash said empathized and informed me that they rent saxophones and other instruments. The thought had never occurred to me, although I considered taking up the sax again around 1983. Visions of tenors ran through my head, and when I got home I did some checking online, and concluded that if I rent a sax, it will probably be an alto to start with.

An odd feeling of anticipation followed!