Alto Sax
by crazefactoryjen
Earlier as I was making a left off of Houston headed towards Bar Pitti, an agile saxophonist was improvising on a 6th Ave bench. He was one of the better street musicians I’d seen in a minute and although I might be biased (an alto sax player myself), I thought, “Damn, he’s so NY with it.” Although invented ages ago by a Belgian instrument maker, the saxophone is the instrument that most carries the soul of New York. Its powerful sound and timbral qualities lent itself to the explosive energy of NYC (Harlem particularly) in the 1920’s. Peep this Basquiat piece in honor of Charlie Parker.
Jean-Michel Basquiat “In The Wings”, 1986
In every decade since, the Saxophone was instrumental in songs such as “Carless Whisper”, “She Works Hard For The Money”, “Edge Of Glory”, “Brass Monkey” and “Mr. Saxobeat” (don’t shoot the messenger!) to name a few that made dents in the pop world . So although my new sax soul-buddy on 6th Ave got me caught up in a real NYC roarin’ 20’s vibe…I found my friend at Bar Pitti and snapped back into NYFW 2013 reality.
Therefore, here are my two favorite sax lovin’ songs from the current day…moving the ball forward but keepin’ the sound alive, and cool as ever.
crazefactoryjen 