The Bassic Sax Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Vintage Horns’

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might have noticed that I have devoted a fair amount of space to a relatively uncommon vintage German saxophone manufacturer. Dörfler & Jörka was located in Nauheim, and had strong ties to the Julius Keilwerth company.

When I first happened across a De Villiers tenor in February 2009, I had no idea what I had stumbled upon. Nor did I know that this lowly De Villiers would end up becoming the catalyst in a drive for information that ultimately would see the Dörfler & Jörka company’s history being researched and recorded for the first time.

Over the last number of months I have worked with Uwe Ladwig. Uwe is a saxophonist, repair tech, historian, and writer for the German music journal Sonic: sax & brass. A few months ago he got a D&J-stencilled Impala into his shop. This was a stencil name that had been until now unknown to us.

Shortly after that sax was on his work bench, he asked if I could send him the photos of my De Villers. He had decided to write his next article for Sonic on this rather obscure German saxophone manufacturer.

After carefully researching Dörfler & Jörka’s (D&J) history, he wrote an article which was published in the September/October issue of Sonic. Uwe was kind enough to send me his research, and has given me permission to use it on my site.

Yesterday I spent the day updating the Dörfler & Jörka page on the main portion of my website.

What Uwe discovered fundamentally changes what we know about the saxophones that D&J produced, and his information is now included on my site.

Here are a few of the most salient points:

• D&J was very connected to, and interconnected with, the J. Keilwerth company.
• Like the Keilwerth company, D&J’s history is somewhat convoluted and complex.
• D&J produced their own saxophones, and never used Keilwerth body tubes.
• D&J horns are not Keilwerth stencil saxophones. For the most part, they are copies of J. Keilwerth horns.

If you are looking for information about the Dörfler & Jörka company, I suggest you take a look at the newly updated D&J page on my site. I think you might be surprised at what you read.

© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.

What a difference 80 or so years make. As I was trolling Flickr for some interesting photos I couldn’t help but notice the poses that bands of the 1920s struck when it came to their band photos.

Here is a quintessential band photo of the early part of the 20th century. It was taken in 1927 of the Circle Six Orchestra, of Deseronto, Ontario, Canada.

  Circle Six Orchestra

     Image by: Deseronto Archives  Source: Flickr

This is what a newspaper clipping attached to the back of this photo said about this band:

This popular orchestra is composed entirely of Deseronto boys and has been organized for the past five years. Since this photograph was taken the traps player, James McVicker, has added a set of temple blocks to his equipment. Reading from left to right the players are – Reginald Dawson, Roy Woodcock, Clayton John, James McVicker, Marshall Woodcock and Roy Kitchen (now a resident of Tweed).

Notice that the sax player—Reginald Dawson—is playing a Conn C melody with a straight neck.

Now fast forward to the present day on the West Coast, and Vancouver’s Run With The Heard strikes a very different pose. Here they do their own retro trip back in time to the 80s.

  The Heard

     Photography by: kk+  Source: Flickr

This indie band has managed to generate a buzz in the local music scene, and puts on a live show that creates a circus-like feel. They are however, quite the juxtaposition to the Circle Six Orchestra of just 8 decades ago.

It would be interesting to know what the band photos of 80 years in the future will look like. What attitude will the players display? What poses will they strike? Will base ball bats still be the accessory of choice?

© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been playing bass a lot more than I usually do because I got a new toy. No, it’s not a new bass, just a new way to hold the one I already have. More about that tomorrow, I’m still working on getting my article polished up.

Yesterday we took the last in a series of photos that will be used in the articles about the new stand. While looking at the shots last night, this one just popped out at me. I decided to put a digital frame around it and include it in my photo gallery. I think it captures the enormity of the bass—compared to its everyday cousins—quite well.

   What The Right Hand Does

I don’t have tiny hands. I’m 5′9″ tall—that’s 175 cm for my friends who only do metric —and my hands are proportional to my body size.

Given that I haven’t polished my 1922 Buescher since I got it in 2000, I think it is holding up remarkably well. I really don’t like silver horns. They are a pain in the ass to own: Too much upkeep on their finishes. However, I own at least 5 of them, and as luck would have it, the biggest sax I have would have to be silver plated.

My big baby is remarkably photogenic given its lack of polishing. I think over the next few days—as you see it from almost every angle—you will be surprised what keeping it in its case when not being used will do. The real trick to that is, I believe, that I have 7 of the Hagerty anti-tarnish strips taped inside the case, and replace them every couple of years.

© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.