[RKDinOKC]

Hey...I played Saxophone.

Started with an Alto. By the end of HS had 2 altos of my own and the schools Tenor and Baritone. And could make my alto sound just like a soprano sax.

Started in 7th grade. At the end of the 1st 9 weeks my schedule was re-arranged and I was put in the 9th grade band and got 1st chair.

Our HS started in 9th grade and put in the regular band instead of the 9th grand and also the Jazz or Stage band. Summer before 10th grade I used the money I earned to buy a Selmer Alto Sax. It was $700. Used my old Sax as my marching sax so as not to risk damaging the Selmer. The other day I checked and my Selmer sax is the preferred model the players really like and is now worth $6000.

The solo piece I played in 10th grade was what most sax players played for Senior Recital in College. 11th and 12th grade was 1st chair All State and Tri-State. Senior year I was Drum Major.

All thru HS instead of study hall I was the teacher's aide for the orchestra. I was the one that pulled and copied all the sheet music. Also directed the orchestra a lot my junior year.

Senior year a picked up a clarinet and was asked to play with the junior symphony and got 2nd chair clarinet. The director specifically picked a couple of pieces for the Junior symphony to play that had sax solos for me.

Got scholarships to go to any College or University I wanted with my Sax. Oklahoma University music director told me that if I wanted would be in line to be drum mayor of the OU marching band. But had to major in music. Both OSU and CSU gave me a full ride if I just played in their symphonic and jazz bands.

My senior year was the only year I wasn't 1st chair sax in HS. When marching season was over and we switched to symphonic band the new director put me last chair. He also tired to give me a B in band. I got the grade changed because I was 1st chair in Jazz band, Drum Major, 1st chair All State, 1st chair Tri-State, and got all 1s at all the solo contests we went to. He didn't like me at all.

The summer before my senior year our band director changed to a better job (Counsellor) in a different school system. The school system was planning to move their next best band director to our school. Before school ended my Junior year I had been introduced to him and played some sax stuff for him but wasn't told why. He did make the comment that he sure wished I was in his music program to play is his jazz band.

The band parents association got wind of the replacement and came unglued. The replacement band director was coming from a predominately black school and he himself was BLACK. Before even meeting him they petitioned the school board and got them to hire someone else. The guy they did hire (notice I didn't say director) was the organ player for the local minor league baseball team.

Just after the new school year started my senior year I was invited to the old band director's house. When I got there it was both the old band director and the black director that was supposed to replace them. That's when I found out what was really going on. The director was working to get me as a featured Soloist with the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra. And having the right people in the audience to set me up for a fantastic music carrier as a sax player. They had been waiting to tell me about it until everything was set up. Told me that had called me over to apologize.

They told me about approaching the organ player and he told them he didn't want to waste his time on me. They said they really tried but couldn't get it going unless the director of my HS band was on board because of the publicity and that would be a big part of getting a music carrier started so young.

The organ guy basically treated me like crap. Even though I was drum major he did his best to not have me do anything to help. When we first start marching we broke up into squads to teach marching. He gave me all the misfit trouble makers trying to make me look bad. My squad ended up being the best and that pissed him off. As an aide for the orchestra he didn't want me to help to anything and he sorely needed it. The only thing he ever did was let me have 1st chair in the HS jazz band, don't know why. Think maybe he was jealous.

A few years later I ran into my old band director. He showed me a CD of the sax player Kenny G and pointed out the producers. Kenny G did not come onto the scene until after I had graduated. He told me that those producers were some of the people that were going to come listen to me and what they were looking for was a sax player they could feature and he was confident that it would have been me instead of Kenny G if it hadn't been for that jerk organ player.

Sure would have been a completely different life for me.

That's what I think of when someone mentions as saxophone, especially an Alto.