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Welcome to Andrew Angle’s sax resume!
 The brief version of my story is that I've been playing alto & tenor for quite a while, & currently play alto in the Greenwood Community Band (on the web at http://www.greenwoodband.com). The concert music is ok & I plan to stay with the group for years to come, but I want to add some swing & blues to do some jamming.
Playing history:
I began sax in 5th grade in Newton, KS & eventually went to Kansas State University on a music scholarship w/ emphasis in sax performance (mostly recognized for rock/blues improv). That lasted a year until I dropped the major for business & computers. The horn stayed in the closet for about 7 years & was revived about 6 years ago when a local "classic rock" bar band called "Big Fish" invited me to show up with my horn for their gig that night. They were an incredibly entertaining band & the house was packed! They kept me on stage growling rock solos until the wee hours & the crowd loved it. It could have been the adrenalyn, but I had never sounded so good in my life. That gig was basically a one-time thing for fun (and it WAS fun). The truth is, in spite of their most loyal fans’ requests to have me become a genuine member of the band (aaaww shucks), I didn’t persue the idea since my liver isn’t hardened enough to survive being a professional saloon musician.
Since then I picked up the horn again I started playing solos in our local church, plus did a jazz-style Christmas Dinner Theater there w/ piano accompaniment. In Summer 2002 I did my first sax wedding performance. On soprano: Kenny G’s “The Wedding Song”, Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings”. On alto: Canon in D, and “Amazing Grace” as a duet with the bride’s brother on harmonica. I’m investigating the possibility of playing a few weddings each year for fun & to help recoup my investment in instruments.
A few times per year I also volunteer to do short performances for nursing homes. The performances consist of me singing a 2 or 3 songs karaoke style, followed by 10 minutes on sax, then do my best to play about 10 minutes worth of impromptu audience requests before winding down with “Amazing Grace” on recorder or Indian flute using tons of reverb through my Boss VF-1.
This year I played sax in a parade & post-parade concert with the Shriners in Franklin, just south of Indy. What a fun bunch of guys! Shriners are kinda like Boy Scouts with booze.
I’m just getting started with working on some studio projects at a recording studio in Crawfordsville, IN. (http://www.audio-chroma.com). Since the studio is one of the partners in the project to create “Muzak”or easy listening “Mood Music” I’m allowed just about all of the studio time I could possibly want. This project is headed by a guy named Izu. He’s a studio tech from Nigeria & can barely read sheet music, but he knows how music should sound. Everything but the sax, vocals & guitar will be built electronically. These “smooth jazz” pieces will mostly be done through the soprano. This page will be updated when some pieces are available for download.
Recording is a completely new experience for me. It seems like I hear myself play all the time, but until I heard every note, every breath, & every key click recorded through professional studio equipment I had never really “heard” my own playing. It’s a major learning experience. Very motivational, too. Makes me want, more than ever, to not make mistakes. This means p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e!
Goals:
Aside from weddings, I want to play music that makes people forget their inhibitions. I wanna make them get up & dance. One thing I’ve always wanted to do is to play in a swing / big band for a New Year's Eve party. The tux is already hanging in my closet.
Weaknesses: For someone who plays as much as I have, my sight reading skills should be better. Also, I’m concerned that the lack of solos in the Greenwood band repretoir will make my improv skills turn stale. To refresh, I'm going to inject the Jamey Aebersold back into my practice routine & build a mental library of riffs so that I don't have to think so much while I play. Plus, I'm forcing myself to sight read more often.
My strengths: Once I can hear my part once or twice I usually have it memorized for a long time. Over the years I’ve developed a very clean, bright sound w/ good vibrato, wicked growls when needed, stong intonation, & jam creatively. My wish list includes a fairly open metal mouthpiece for times when I need to sound more gritty. Right now I’m using a more “classical” sounding medium chamber rubber Vandoren on the Alto & a rubber Brillhart on the tenor.
My Instruments:
Between alto & tenor, 80% of my playing has been on tenor, but I think I sound better on alto. I was surprised at how easily I conquered the transition to a soprano embochure. Within 5 minutes of scales it felt as smoooth as the alto. The following is a list of my instrument hardware.
 Soprano sax
Finally! In May ‘03 I bought a Yamaha Pro/Custom Soprano (YSS-675) through eBay. It cost me more than all of my other instruments combined, but it’s a real player. By doing research online, it appears that more pros are playing this soprano model than any other. Now I can’t “blame the equipment” anymore. Went with a Rovner 7 metal mouthpiece for this one. I tried several rubber mouthpieces & could NOT get any of them to play the low C anywhere close to being in tune. The metal mouthpiece fixed the intonation through the entire register.
Alto sax
- Yamaha Professional in mint condition, recently purchased through eBay
- Rough-looking student Bundy that plays surprisingly well (sold)
- Student model Yamaha (currently loaned to our nephew to get started in band. So far it looks as if his interest in band has dissolved. The fact that the band program at his school consists of only 2 practices per week could be a factor. I truly believe that kids learning music should start with at least 4 days of playing each week.)
 Tenor sax
- Rough-looking 1941-42 King Zephyr Special tenor -- nice vintage horn w/ sterling silver neck. This is THE immediate predecessor to King’s “Super 20”. The horn at the right IS NOT mine! From what I’ve read, the only difference between this horn and the rather expensive “Super 20” is the name & the engraving design. This was a rare find, and I bought it through the Trader Paper for $35. Supposedly it rivals the Mark IV and is considered by many vintage sax pros to be the most undervalued sax around . I thought about doing the full $2500 treatment on it just like the Zephyr shown at the right (sadly, it’s someone else’s), but am opting to go the safer (and cheaper) route by getting it chemically dipped just to clean it up & do a major re-pad & adjustment to make it as original as possible without risking big bucks.
- King 615. Decent student model horn w/ big sound, though not as bold as the Zephyr Special.
Other instruments
- Keyboard -- GEM SK880 Powerstation -- 88 weighted keys, hard drive, lots of goodies.
- Recorders -- Tenor, soprano, & sopranino
- 6-hole Indian flute -- Oohhhhmmmmmm. This is fun, & I hope to get a few more.
- Flute -- NOT!! No I don't have one, but am watching garage sales so that I can hopefully learn how to play one of these things in the not-so-distant future. Same goes for clarinet.
- Guitar -- ASI Sustaniac electric; plus a cheap acoustic. I’m still learning chords & scales.
- Violin -- Small student model bought at garage sale for 12 bucks. Doubt if I'll ever learn to play it. Maybe my daughter will someday.
- Accordion -- Just a clunker I found cheap.
Schedule:
The Greenwood Community Band has 2 hour rehearsals every Thursday night & with about a dozen concerts each year. Plus, after our Christmas concert, the band goes into hibernation for around 8 weeks. I hope to play year-round and polish my sax skills by doing a couple more gigs each month. Overall, my schedule is more flexible than most folks with daytime jobs know. My self-employment status allows a lot of freedom.
Outside of music: I’ve been doing freelance Internet programming profitably from home since Spring of 1996. I’ve been happily married just as long, & have a 3 yr old daughter. My wife works full time & takes Thursdays off as “Mommy-Daughter Day”, & I take every Friday off as “Daddy-Daughter Day”.
That's the scoop (and then some). If your group needs a “sub” or even someone who can play on a more regular long-term basis, let’s talk!
If you have comments or questions please drop me a line at Saxman@allindy.com.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you have something better to do with your time than to sit around reading about me.
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