BAND & ORCHESTRA
1.
2.
3.
4.
ANNIVERSARIES & INNOVATIONS Band and orchestra suppliers’ product debuts at NAMM drew on old and new
resources. — By Ed Enright M ilestone anniversaries are common among the long-established manufac- turers that exhibit at NAMM every year. Old-school band and orchestra companies fit neatly into that category, and this year was no exception as Buffet Crampon marked the 100th anniversary of its high-end Keilwerth saxophone brand with a special run of altos and tenors that reflect the company’s history by incorporating throwback design elements into the body of its flagship SX90R model. “If you look at the design, [what] people notice right away is the Angel Wing keyguard from our Tone King models of the 1950s,” said Matt Vance, woodwind product specialist
for Buffet Group USA. “We wanted to pay homage to Keilwerth’s previous models, but we also wanted to make it where someone who purchases the instrument and wants to change the vibration or go for a more traditional appearance could remove this. So, it has three set screws that are easy to remove. The guard is metal, so it adds mass to the instrument, which can affect how the instrument vibrates and resonates.” The instruments featured rolled toneholes, a signature feature of Keilwerth saxophones. “There’s a different kind of seal on the pad that we refer to as more of a ‘sound dome,’ where the sound exits a little more broadly,”
Vance said. “It’s a big, husky sound.” JodyJazz founder Jody Espina developed a special saxophone mouthpiece in honor of his company’s 25th anniversary: the DV JC Jody Custom Alto. “Last year, Jody started thinking about something special we could do for our an- niversary. In that process, he was messing around with his personal DV model to see what kind of options he could get, and he happened to come across a mouthpiece that really felt good to him,” explained Danielle Walker, the main mouthpiece tester for JodyJazz. “It features a slight baffle change that added a little warmth. It landed between our DV
58 I MUSIC INC. I APRIL 2025
Powered by FlippingBook