Hail to the Sax : Musician Clinton Gives Instrument a Note of Popularity

He was in his mid-30s, a businessman and he hadn’t played the sax since high school. But after all the publicity surrounding Bill Clinton’s saxophone performance on the “Arsenio Hall Show,” all the saxophone jokes on “The Tonight Show” and all the saxophone paraphernalia now being hawked, he finally broke down.

He visited Marshall Music in Torrance on his lunch break last week and rented a sax.

“The guy was talking about Clinton when he picked up the sax,” said Marshall Music salesman Marc Palacios. “He thought it was cool that Clinton played the sax, so he decided to get back into it.”

Now that Clinton is President, and the saxophone is the White House’s First Instrument, music stores, high school bandleaders and saxophone manufacturers anticipate an explosion of interest in the instrument. If the saxophone generated extensive publicity when Clinton was a candidate, Palacios said, just wait and see what happens now that he is President.

Clinton wasted little time in featuring his favorite instrument. He played the sax at an inaugural party Wednesday night. And Kenny G, a favorite sax player of Clinton’s, was scheduled to perform with singer Michael Bolton at an inaugural dinner.

At Hollywood High School, band director Rickey Washington is anticipating “a big rush on the sax” when school begins in February.

“In the past, Clinton enhanced the popularity of the instrument,” Washington said. “But now it’s going to be huge.”

Instrument manufacturers and entrepreneurs are preparing to cash in on what they consider an impending saxophone fad. Macy’s is advertising a $20 saxophone pin under the headline: “Wail to the Chief.”

Rico International, a Los Angeles-area company that sells reeds for the saxophone’s mouthpiece, has been promoting a “Limited Edition Inaugural Reed Sampler Commemorative Package.” The sampler, available for 100 days after the Inaugural Ceremony, contains a selection of reeds and sells for about $20.

The Selmer Co., one of the best-known manufacturers of band instruments, recently presented two engraved saxophones to Clinton, who plays a 1935 “Balanced Action” Selmer tenor sax. Not to be outdone, Winston Saxophones of Boston has recently released a “Presidential Model” saxophone,” a $2,000 gold-plated tenor sax. The company recently sent a complimentary sax to Clinton.

And last weekend in Anaheim, at the National Assn. of Music Merchandisers convention, the Presidential Model was a popular item, said David Ginott, president of Winston Saxophones. The company has sold hundreds of saxophones, Ginott said, and has been deluged with phone calls during the last week.

“All the talk at the convention was about Clinton’s being a sax player and what it will do for the instrument,” said Adam Lerman, owner of Adam’s Music in West Los Angeles. “But people also thought it could have a wider impact. We’re all hoping Clinton’s interest in music will have a positive impact on music education in the public schools . . . which has been suffering.”

But on the day Bill Clinton took his presidential oath, a group of small-business men in Southern California were questioning whether all this fuss about the sax should be attributed to the new President. This was the question of the day: Is Bill Clinton a more powerful influence on the sale of saxophones than cartoon character Lisa Simpson?

During the last year, Los Angeles music store owners and bandleaders have noticed a renewed interest in saxophone sales, rentals and repairs. They haven’t determined if it is because of Clinton, or because of Lisa Simpson’s opening sax solo on “The Simpsons” or because more pop musicians are using the sax today.

Most music store owners conclude that Clinton was just one of the influences on the increased popularity of the instrument. But, they say, soon he will rival Charlie Parker and John Coltrane as the best-known saxophone players in history.

Clinton, an all-state high school sax player in Arkansas, gets mixed reviews from local musicians.

“His technique needs a little touching up, but he’s got some soul,” said Washington, of Hollywood High, who has played the sax for 28 years.

“He’s got decent tone, but he’s a little stiff,” said Palacios, of Marshall Music.

“He’s no virtuoso, but his strength is his confidence,” said Lerman, of Adam’s Music. “I like the way he goes for it.”

Still, Clinton certainly will be known as one of the best musicians in presidential history, largely because very few Presidents had musical training and the ones who did had marginal ability. Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler played the violin, Richard Nixon and Harry Truman played the piano, Warren G. Harding played the cornet and Calvin Coolidge played the harmonica.

But of all the instruments, the saxophone is the most presidential, Washington says.

“The sax is an instrument for solos, for the forefront, for the spotlight,” he said. “Sax players are outgoing, they like to play fast, they are leaders. All these are good characteristics for a President. . . . And if you play the sax you got to be pretty hip. And, you know, being hip wouldn’t be too bad a characteristic for a President either.”