The Saxophone (Yale Musical Instrument Series)

If you really want to understand the saxophone, first, you need to listen to a few hundred records. Almost everything you don't find there will be between these covers. This is the only English-language book that's remotely this comprehensive on the subject.

It's sad that the saxophone hasn't been given the amount of consideration it deserves in a more classical and scholarly light because of its history and the not-so-easy triumphs the inventor had to muster through, which were clearly defined in this book. Even though there are hundreds and hundreds of doctoral dissertations written about the saxophone, they are not easily accessible and can be hard to follow with the amount of jargon and knowledge required to understand the concepts that are presented. This book provides a no-prior-knowledge requirement to read and understand its materials but it's A LOT more enjoyable if you are musically trained or read to a certain degree.This author's tone is very approachable and the ideas and timelines are so smoothly connected. Images are included to provide a more inclusive description of events and personal experiences. It was so easy to read that I literally breezed through 50 pages in an hour. For anyone seriously pursuing saxophone study in college, no matter bachelor's, master's, or doctorates, you should consult this book like a bible. For the not-so-serious saxophonists, if you're enthused with Romantic French history/industrial revolution, you'll at least enjoy the first half of the book.

I am a collector of saxophones as well as a saxophonist. This book goes into detail about the history of the instrument, important saxophonists, how the instrument was received and more. This is the best book I have ever read about the saxophone and I recommend it.

This book is incredible. A savory treat for any saxophone enthusiast!

Bought this book as a Christmas gift for my son. He was delighted with it and considers it a keepsake...

A wonderful book about saxophone! Very useful for saxophone teacher and student!

Much interesting information.

A monumental diatribe of received nonsense (right off the Dictionnaire des idées reçues). Replete with racist tropes (European "legitimate" tradition and "culture" vers. coarse and dirty "Jazz" of which Cottrell knows too little to assess his sources critically). Consequently the bizarre European American "virtuosi" of early 20s cent. are praised and discussed at length, chewing up dubious sources without exposing their bigottery, while the great innovators of the saxophone in the authentic Jazz tradition (Bechet, Hodges, Carter, Ben Webster etc) are treated (if at all) patronisingly and with incredible amounts of error and neglect (for ex.: Earl Bostic, being actually one of the greatest and most influential virtuosi of all times is mentioned in passing only, even Webster—who ever made the tenor sound like that?—is barely mentioned, unlike obscure Europeans like Candy Dulfer whose "tiger-ish pose" seems to have impressed him a lot, although she is actually shown wearing a leopard-pattern dress!). He wastes much paper on general, shallow, common place introductions with no bearing on the saxophone or even esthetics. He also is utterly disinterested in technicalities of the actual instrument, various bore dimensions, evolution of mouthpieces etc. His organological chapters are riddled with confusing, false or redundant statements.Sorry I can't hide my disappointment and sorry again I don't have the time to list all the major blunders found in that book. It is really in almost every sentence. I can assure you, on many pages the margins aren't nearly broad enough for my corrections. One example should do to provide an idea of the kind of uncritical, sloppy and stereotypically Eurocentric thinking behind this book: p. 199: "by the 1940s Hodge's use of these techniques had turned them from the novelty effects of the 1910s and early 1920s into significant expressive gestures..." Hodges was actually a disciple of Bechet and inherited many of the latter's original "hot" techniques (intonation, articulation), not the barn yard effects of the European-American epigones. He assimilated them and later even further refined them, as suited his less extrovert personality. However, I have yet to hear more 'significant expressive gestures' than Bechet's.Danyel Nicholas

After reading shorter books about the saxophone it was a delight to find this book. Just the weight of it, when handed over by the postman, made me realise that here was a book that should answer many questions. It did - even answered ones that had never entered my mind. Well written and thoroughly researched.

The technical history and musical history of the sax discussed in depth. A must for fans of the instrument. Bought as a gift for a newly awarded grade 8 saxophonist looking for a full understanding of its beginnings, roots and eventual rise to its current premier position in Jazz music. A definitive "goto" reference book.

A monumental diatribe of received nonsense. Replete with racist tropes (European "legitimate" tradition and "culture" vers. coarse and dirty "Jazz" of which Cottrell knows little to nothing). Consequently the bizarre European American "virtuosi" of early 20s cent. are praised and discussed at length, completely uncritically chewing up dubious sources, while the great innovators of the saxophone in the authentic Jazz tradition (Bechet, Hodges, Carter, Ben Webster etc) are treated patronisingly and with incredible amounts of error and neglect (for ex.:Earl Bostic, being actually one of the greatest and most influential virtuosi of all times is mentioned in passing only, even Webster—who ever made the tenor sound like that?—is barely mentioned, unlike obscure Europeans like Candy Dulfer whose "tiger-ish pose" seems to have impressed him a lot, although she is actually shown wearing a leopard-pattern dress!). He wastes much paper on general, shallow, common place introductions with no bearing on the saxophone or even esthetics. He also is utterly disinterested in technicalities of the actual instrument, various bore dimensions, evolution of mouthpieces etc. His organological chapters are riddled with confusing, false or redundant statements.Disgusting!