Sigma Alpha Iota

38 Fall 2024 • sai-national.org 38 Fall 2024 • sai-national.org A Wld of Music By Jayne I. Hanlin R ecently, not far from my home, I discovered a hidden treasure: the Saxquest Saxophone Museum, located at 2114 Cherokee Street in St. Louis, Missouri. The museum, which is free and open to the public, is located above Saxquest, a retail store that specializes in selling woodwinds and related supplies and has an adjoining repair shop. Each of the six technicians has a large, organized, and uncluttered workspace with tools aligned for easy access. These specialists spend between nine months and two years to learn and hone their craft. They fix local instruments and others from around the country. Owner Mark Overton (whom I've nicknamed "The Saxophone Man") gave me a guided tour of the entire facility. Collecting saxophones and related instruments for more than two decades, he estimates he owns about 700, though not all are displayed. Some—like a subcontrabass—are stored in the basement. All saxophones have four main parts: neck, body, U-shaped bow, and bell. He described his collection as one of "vintage, one-of-a-kind, cool, and experimental horns—as well as pieces of history." Indeed! He briefly summarized the history of the instrument, designed by Belgian Adolphe Sax in 1844; few of his original instruments exist today. The first major U.S. manufacturer, C.G. Conn, hailed from Elkhart, Indiana, then the "instrument capital of the world" for woodwind and brass instruments. In a glass case in the first room is a pre-Civil War quartet of Conn instruments. As an experimental engineer in Conn's laboratory, Allen Loomis worked to achieve better sound, intonation, and fingering for saxophones. Apparently, all the future founders of prominent competing saxophone companies, including Buescher and Selmer, first worked for Conn before branching out on their own. Occasionally, soprano saxophones have curves, and tenor and alto saxophones do not. Examples of these—as well as those saxophones with more normal configurations—are all housed in the museum. I saw seven of the eight saxophone models—sopranissimo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, and contrabass (with several wound tubes in the body to produce its low tones)—as well as "phones" I'd never heard of: the Rothophone and the sarrusophone. Additionally, there are two of the remaining twenty-five Conn-O-Sax instruments from 1928. Unfortunately, the stock market crash the following year and the Great Depression hampered the sales of this three-octave sweet-sounding instrument, which Mark played for me. A rare pair of design-winning, gold medal Selmer saxophones from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair is featured. Conspicuous among the hand-engraved saxophones that are plated in gold or silver is the renowned one of white acrylic, which easily shatters. Charlie Parker played this horn in a famous jazz quintet The Extraordinary Saxquest Saxophone Museum The Extraordinary Saxquest Saxophone Museum A corner of the Saxquest displays an array of saxophones. A corner of the Saxquest displays an array of saxophones.

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