That Moaning Saxophone
The Six Brown Brothers and the Dawning of a Musical Craze
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- 16,99 €
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- 16,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
Today, the saxophone is an emblem of "cool" and the instrument most closely associated with jazz. Yet not long ago it was derided as the "Siren of Satan," and it was largely ignored in the United States for well over half a century after its invention. When it was first widely heard, it was often viewed as a novelty noisemaker, not a real musical instrument. In only a few short years, however, saxophones appeared in music shops across America and became one of the most important instrumental voices. How did the saxophone get from comic to cool?
Bandleader Tom Brown claimed that it was his saxophone sextet, the Six Brown Brothers, who inaugurated the craze. While this boast was perhaps more myth than reality, the group was indisputably one of the most famous musical acts on stage in the early twentieth century. Starting in traveling circuses, small-time vaudeville, and minstrel shows, the group trekked across the United States and Europe, bringing this new sound to the American public. Through their live performances and groundbreaking recordings--the first discs of a saxophone ensemble in general circulation--the Six Brown Brothers played a crucial role in making this new instrument familiar to and loved by a wide audience.
In That Moaning Saxophone, author and cornet player Bruce Vermazen sifts fact from legend in this craze and tells the remarkable story of these six musical brothers--William, Tom, Alec, Percy, Vern, and Fred. Vermazen traces the brothers' path through minstrelsy, the circus, burlesque, vaudeville, and Broadway musical comedy. Cleverly weaving together biographical details and the context of the burgeoning entertainment business, the author draws fascinating portraits of the pre-jazz world of American popular music, the theatrical climate of the period, and the long, slow death of vaudeville.
Delving into the career of one of the key popularizers of the saxophone, That Moaning Saxophone not only illuminates the history of this novel instrument, but also offers a witty and vivid portrayal of these forgotten musical worlds.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
During the first two decades of the 20th century, the Six Brown Brothers were arguably the musical act most responsible for introducing the saxophone into American music. They took an instrument that until then had languished in relative obscurity or been demonized by critics--it was once termed the"Siren of Satan"--and helped transform how it was played and perceived. Led by Tom Brown, the Six Brown Brothers formed their band of traveling musicians against the backdrop of minstrel shows, circuses, small town brass bands and vaudeville acts. Widely celebrated, they were legends early in their career--but as the years passed and tastes changed, they faded away along with the vaudeville acts they helped to canonize. Vermazen, a professor emeritus of philosophy at UC Berkley, has written a thoughtful exploration of an instrument and a family, and in doing so, has managed to capture not only the birth of a musical craze, but a pivotal and turbulent moment in America's history. Meticulously researched, this volume covers the years between 1896 and 1927 with a seemingly inexhaustible list of quotes and facts (which at times threatens to overwhelm the compelling narrative the author has created out of the lives of Tom Brown and his brothers). Vermazen follows the brothers, and Tom in particular, year to year and show to show, with varying degrees of success at picking out the telling details that bring both the age, and the brothers, to life. (As he notes early on, the story of the Six Brown Brothers"must be told from the outside," since the brothers left behind few letters and no diaries, and newspaper articles are"tantalizingly silent" on various important facts and details.) Vermazen's revival of the Six Brown Brothers after decades of obscurity will serve as a vital addition to the history of American popular music.
