Prez' Horn

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Some people play plastic reeds because they are perfectly consistent from night to night. Perry Robinson uses one.

So does Dave Liebman, who says: "a plastic reed is technology's gift to saxophone players. Because we don't deal with change of weather, change of temperature, like good wine and bad wine, or because the sun didn't hit the cane at the right angle. Do you want to depend upon nature when you get up to play? I want to cut that variable out. I'd like to have as clearly as possible that it be me that's under control. A plastic reed works for those obvious mechanical reasons. And secondly, I like the sound better."

Here's an interesting article:

http://www.legere.com/Article.htm

Mike

[danasgoodstuff]

Plastic redds ARE consistent, but in Lester's day that meant consistently bad. Now some of them are much better, and I can certainly understand a touting musician not wanting to be stuck without a playable reed after all the music stores close in Podunksville...but I have to suspect that Lester's motivation was economic: Why spend perfectly good drinking money on new reeds when plastic is forever? Actually, all I was really trying to say is that Lester was (probably?) one of those charmed persons who sound good on any and all equiopment...and I, sadly, am not.

Edited December 24, 2004 by danasgoodstuff

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Maybe - but Lester seems to have been idiosyncratic in just about every aspect of his life, so maybe what was bad to everyone else was just right for him, and vice versa. From down beat in 1956, on the subject of clarinets:

"I never could find the one I wanted. I used a metal clarinet on those Kansas City Six records for Commodore, but I never could find one like that one afterwards. I got a tone on that metal one like I wanted. I'd like to pick it up this year if I could find one. Of the newer clarinetists, I'm going to pick up Jimmy Giuffre's records. I think he was the one I heard being played on the radio. He sure plays me, especially in the low tones. About clarinetists, I have to put it right on Benny Goodman always, him and Artie Shaw."

Mike