[78-L] Scott Robinson's contrabass sax

[Cary Ginell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEgCASLiGTU&fmt=18



The story of how Scott landed this rarest of all items is worth telling.
"In
1994 I was on tour in Rome with Paquito d’Rivera United Nation
Orchestra. As always, I had been looking through second-hand stores for
old instruments but had found nothing. On our last night there, I met a
fellow named Enrico Borsetti, and he said to me, ‘I know a second-hand
shop that has a giant contrabass saxophone’. 
I was intrigued, but
usually when people tell me about a “giant” saxophone, they are
referring to a baritone, so I didn't pay much attention. We were
leaving at 6:00 the next morning anyway, so I didn't have a chance to
do anything about it. But Enrico said, ‘don't worry, I’ll send you
pictures’. He did. And lo and behold, it was indeed a contrabass sax.
It was setting inside the door of this second hand shop. The owner had
the bell stuffed with umbrellas and artificial flowers, I was petrified
it would just get knocked over one day and destroyed, because they
moved furniture around in that place all the time. From then on, I was
totally crazy. I couldn't think of anything but that horn. I wrote back
to Enrico and said, ‘I have to have this instrument; I absolutely have
to have it’. That began a long process because the owner didn't want to
sell it. He knew it was very unusual, a conversation piece among his
customers, and he wanted it to stay where it was.I am happy to say
that my dear friends in Rome made it their mission to get me that horn.
Enrico enlisted the aid of another friend, Fausto, who is also an
antique dealer. Fausto buddied up to the owner of this shop. The two
started going out to lunch, and Fausto would, buy the wine and say,
‘What about that big saxophone? It's falling apart. You don't need it.
Somebody needs that horn who can bring it to life. It's of no value to
you. Get some money for it while you can’. This went on for two and a
half years, and finally the guy relented. One day I got a fax from
Fausto. He had taken a picture of himself with the horn, and made a big
sign that said, ‘FINALLY, We got it, Scott!’. I was so happy I wept.This
was August of 1996. But then we had to figure out how to get it over
here. Fausto said, ‘don't worry, I have a friend who'll make a crate
for it; we'll make some calls and find out about shipping procedures’
and so forth. 
But a few weeks went by and logistics proved harder to
manage than we thought. Then one Friday morning as I was getting ready
to go camping, the phone rang. It was Fausto. He said, “meet me at the
airport tomorrow. I'm coming with your sax”. And he did. We had a huge
party in the backyard with champagne and everything. I was beside
myself. It's still like a dream; it really is. But sometimes dreams do
come true, and I'm happy to say that this dream came true for me.But
even though Scott finally got the saxophone, playing it well has been a
challenge. “Overall, the horn was in pretty good shape” Scott
explained. “It's an old horn, dating from the 20’s, I'd guess. It has a
few dents, but not very many, and no keys were missing. But the neck
was broken, and I had to patch it with a couple of pieces from a junker
baritone, and I can't get it quite right. It's a little sharp, and I
have to fight the intonation. I need to shorten the neck slightly, but
it's so long and has so many curves in it, that I'm struggling to
figure out the puzzle. The other problem is the mouthpiece. I don't
have one that quite fits. There just aren't any. I have had some
discussions with the Vandoren company, however, for whom I endorse
reeds and mouthpieces. They have a gentleman named Jean Paul Gauvin who
is a mouthpiece wizard, and he is going to custom-make a mouthpiece for
that horn. With a better mouthpiece and a reconfigured neck, I’m
confident I can get that horn in shape to play anything on it. I want
to be able to play ballads with it, to make it sing with a beautiful
sound".

*************
I saw Scott play a variety of saxophones in Ascona, Switzerland in 2003, but he didn't bring the big baby.

You can hear him play his sax collection on "Thinking Big" (Arbors 19179), including a version of the old Clarence Williams classic "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind," in which Sidney Bechet upstaged Louis Armstrong by playing a sarrusaphone he borrowed from a local hock shop.

Cary Ginell
 		 	   		  
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