I took it for a test drive yesterday after having to wait a week (the sales department forgot to tell the shipping department that I bought the horn, the upside being the delay earned me free shipping). I snagged a box of Rico Select Medium 3 reeds and rushed her home for the inaugural play session. Surprisingly, the hard rubber mouthpiece that came with the horn played quite nicely.

I found the keywork was smooth and the tone remarkably free-blowing. The lower range voiced with very little effort, i.e. I didn’t have to blat the “sub-D” spatula-keyed notes to get them to sound. In fact, it was easy to play very soft and quiet low notes, even the low A. It was worth (experienced sax purchasers would say ‘essential’) buying a used horn that received a complete mechanical overhaul. It really has made for smooth action.

I actually just spoke with the repair specialist who worked on the horn and he said this one wasn’t as banged up as the used “local school” horns often are when they first arrive, which was reassuring to hear. I like to tell myself that this one was the school’s “nice” bari reserved for their best (and theoretically, most responsible) saxophone student, and then only for concert band (not marching band where the real damage takes place!). He agreed this was a “B6″ from 1977 and not a “B-800 Elimona” as first thought, though the differences by that point probably weren’t too significant. This is still considered a pro model at the time, as suggested by the quality brass work and full (though somewhat worn) custom engraving on the bell.

My only criticism or possible future repair shop “tweek” would be adding a little thicker cork padding on a few keys to prevent some of the high tone keys from opening as much as they do at the moment. I found the high octave B, C# and D keys were definitely sharp and required a lot of embouchure work on my part to bring them in tune. Although the overall tone might become a little muted if the keys couldn’t open as far, the high tone notes would not go as sharp and might significantly help the high tone intonation. We’ll see….

For now, though, I’m going to keep getting familiar with this new brass beauty. I just ordered a stand (ugh–not cheap!) and look forward to trying out some metal mouthpieces down the road. It is soooo much fun to play a baritone sax. Now I’m ready to record my own saxophone quartet!

From everything I have read about Yani serial numbers of this era, the 3rd and 4th digits are the year (77). And in 1978, the B-800 Elimona was supposedly introduced.

If both the serial number/year and the B-800 facts are accurate, I have a last-model year Yani bari B6.

It was puchased from the Wichita Band Instrument Company. It was rescued from a local school district, mechanically overhauled including disassembly, cleaning, dent/ding removal, new pads and cork replacement.

All reviews I have read about the B6 have been positive. For instance, a “Sax on the Web” forum member said,

“I had a B6 that was absolutely wonderful…By all means consider this horn. It is a really great one.”

And another in the same thread,

“I can’t say for sure, but I’d assume the entire run of B6’s produced quality horns. Seems yani’s are quite consistent. I picked mine up as a result of a very positive experience in college with a B901. Although the 901 is probably a better horn, to my memory, the B6 is every bit as good.”

It arrives in a few days, just in time for a funky Monday testdrive!

http://www.yanagisawasax.co.jp/en/about/yanagisawa/

My friend Eric Koppa says at some point Keilworth began producing saxophones in the Yani factory and the quality of the horns went up. There’s a note at the above link about a “corporation reorganization” in 1961.

That is good news to hear! The baritone sax I just purchased was made in 1978 and looks to be of the “800 Series.” If there were any design/manufacturing issues due to the 1961 reorganization, they should have been resolved well before 1978. Likewise, maybe the positive Keilworth influence Eric spoke of would have been visible in this ‘78 bari sax line….

The horn arrives Monday. I’ll keep ya posted….!

I’m an instrumentalist. My mom is a classical pianist. When I was growing up, I hated the 1980’s electronic drums and synth sounds that began replacing real instruments. But that attitude had to change. Technology never looks back. Through the 90’s, the art of the DJ mixer evolved with sampling technology. Entire albums were developed using elements of literally hundreds of clips from recorded songs. Clyde Stubblefield’s “Funky Drummer” beat eventually became the most sampled drumbeat example of this movement, symbolizing the whole evolution of hip-hop.

I learned to embrace the technology. I still haven’t tried DJing–it’s simply too removed an art for me to believe I could do it justice. I’d rather let the great DJ’s be great DJ’s and focus my energy on making and recording great music the way I know how. Nonetheless, if there was one item that I should have bought years ago for my studio, it would be the Akai MPC2000. It is the M-16 of every great DJ soldier. And speaking of great DJ’s, Pete Rock IS one of my very favorite DJ/Producers that does the kind of magic that I wish I had the time to learn to do.

This YouTube clip is a wonderful display of how it’s done. Enjoy!

(Art Ensemble of Chicago: from left, Roscoe Mitchell, Famoudou Don Moye, Jaribu Shahid, Corey Wilkes and Joseph Jarman.)

WOOOOooooowww!

Check out this article in “All About Jazz” regarding this upcoming concert. Geez! If this doesn’t back up what I just wrote last week about Roscoe, I guess you’ll just have to go to the show to see (and hear) for yourself.

Photo by Dominik Huber as appeared in the New York Times, August 6, 2006