Dedicated to promoting and preserving the very best of classical and contemporary saxophone literature

Dear Andrew,

Bravo for your Legendary Saxophonists Collection that happily completes my personal collection. They are many things that are very exceptional.  It is perfect.
Thank you again.
Jean-Marie Londeix
Bordeaux Conservatory, France

Dear Mr. Jackson,
Professor Fred Hemke and I are both delighted . . . you have invested a great amount of time, energy, and personal expense in compiling this collection. It is clear that you have made a valuable contribution to the history of the saxophone that will surely inspire musicians for many years
Sincerely,

D.J. Hoek 
Head Music Library 
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

Dear Andrew,
We received through Claude Delangle your prestigious Collection. We wish you luck for the continuation of your tremendous task.
Sincerely,
Conservatoire de Paris

Mr. Jackson,
It is simply the most stunning piece of work in the history of the instrument.
John Harle
Professor of Saxophone
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
London

Mr. Jackson,
We are proud to have your rare recordings in your archives at the Royal Conservatoire.
Hans de Jong
Professor of Saxophone
Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp
Belgium

The Legendary Saxophonists Collection
(featuring Vintage Saxophonists, Legendary Virtuosos, Great Artists, and Extraordinary Entertainers)

Much is owed to the pioneers or early saxophone playing and this CD is a fitting tribute to their accomplishments, titled The Legendary Saxophonists Collection. This CD was produced as nonprofit, self-funded academic research project that has been an ongoing operation for over twenty-five years. New discoveries occurred along the way to add new material to this collection of recordings. At the present time this collection consists of fifty CDs, some of which are video DVDs of great rarity, and audio CDs of equally rare performances, as well as recordings of the artists speaking of their performances and the saxophone itself. A gentleman named Andrew Jackson has become the "Indiana Jones" of saxophone, exhibiting much patience and perseverance in locating these rare gems of past history in the evolution of saxophone performance. One example is while in Australia he heard a story about a tunnel in Toowoomba that was built in the late 1930s. Supposedly it had a storage vault for disk masters hidden away between the old Australian Broadcasting Company's radio studio, and the new studios. Accompanied by a local constable and several older residents he set out to locate the tunnel and the vault which he found from old plans of the original buildings. With the aid of a Royal Navy Diver the vault was located and many disks were recovered. Hidden among the disks was the rare Australian Sigurd Rascher recording, and best of all it was in remarkable condition.

Each CD and DVD in this collection has been re-engineered with state of the art digital studio equipment utilizing an ultra-high sampling yielding a high definition sound. Truth is in the pudding, with a convincing digital sound presence of the saxo­phone, yet yielding a natural warm depth sounding depth. The disks are archival quality and are intended to last a very long time. All printed materials accompanying the CDs are made of heavy "acid free archival quality" paper that extends their life time as well.

The book that accompanies this unique collection is phe­nomenal onto itself. In addition to providing a guide to the whole collection of CDs it is an authoritative history of early saxophone performance in the classical saxophone genre. As if that were not enough, it is a thorough collection of saxophone memorabilia and curiosities. It contains concert programs, con­cert posters, advertisements, sheet music covers, as well as a history of saxophones manufactured in the United States. The photos of C. G. Conn and "Gus" Buescher are fascinating. These reinforce the fact that there was indeed a real Colonel Charles Gerard Conn and a Ferdinand August "Gus" Buscher. The book is a col­lector's item and deserves high praise for it's quality and historical perspective.

The Legendary Saxophonist Collection presents recordings of two great "early" artists of the classical saxophone, Sigurd Ra­scher and Marcel Mule. Many of the CDs are exclusively their original recordings. From solo recitals to orchestral soloists, these CDs cover both artists performance repertoire quite extensively.

Rudy Wiedoeft is more than adequately represented in this collection, as well as the Six Brown Brothers. The other giants represented are Edward LeFebre (the Patrick Gilmore Band), Jean H. Moeremans (soloist with the Sousa Band), H. Benne Henton (soloist with the Sousa Band), Clyde Doerr (famed soloist of the 1920s), and Cecil Leeson. This is a magnificent collection of recordings. At the very least this collection should be in the library of every college or university that encourages saxophone performance in their music school curriculum. It also deserves a place in the collection of every saxophone aficionado. The recordings are not pristine, but they do contain all the energy of the original performance. Considering what the archivists had to work with they have done a wonderful job. It is very exciting to have the past jump into the present using modern digital CD technology

 

Reviewed by: Paul Wagner
Of: The Saxophone Journal
Issue: November 2008

Andrew Jackson: The Legendary Saxophonists Collection: A Critical Analytic Guide to
the Developmental Performance History of the Saxophone

© 2009 Andrew Jackson. Web: www.c-melody.com.  Email: ajacksonlsc@yahoo.com.
50 disks and a full color 175 page book   Price $500.  
Reviewed by Michael L. Keepe.

The written early history of the saxophone has been well-represented by the contributions of Bell, Gee, Hemke, Hester, Horwood, and others. The early recorded history, however, has been elusive. There have been notable releases by NASA, Clarinet Classics, and A. Sax, but none have uncovered the gems that Andrew Jackson has with The Legendary Saxophonists Collection. For more than 25 years Andrew Jackson has traveled the world searching for recordings and videos of saxophonists that played an integral role in shaping the future of the classical saxophone. This collection includes 50 CDs and DVDs featuring these early masters with an illustrated book that walks you through this amazing archive and back in time.

Mr. Jackson describes his reasoning for starting this collection as follows.
As an undergraduate saxophone performance student in the early 1970s, there was a complete lack of recordings of the great pioneers of the instrument. I remember wondering, 'How were we supposed to follow in their footsteps if we do not even know what they sounded like?' This is when I started my search for historic performances - a search that was to take me all over the globe. Later on, I saw that many of these historic performances were of only one copy; many were badly deteriorated, and most were in danger of being lost into the mists of time. My task became that of a conservator.

The most difficult part of this review is to narrow down this mass of recordings and videos to mentioning just a few. First, I feel it important to note the quality of these recordings. Many of these recordings were recorded acoustically with performers playing into a cone, recording the sound to disc or cylinder. This process, in addition to their age, would lead one to the conclusion that the sound quality might be poor. However, Mr. Jackson went to great lengths to find highly qualified audio experts to re-master these recordings ensuring the best possible quality of sound and picture, preserving these rare recordings in archival quality. Though some recordings might be a little hard to hear or see, hearing the only recordings of Patrick Gilmore's band with Edward Lefebre playing principle, or being in the presence of a recital given by Sigurd Rascher supersedes any minor fidelity compromises. I am amazed at the true representation of tone quality and musicianship Mr. Jackson was able to bring out in these types of performances, particularly when some of these recordings literally disintegrated in his hands during the re-mastering process.

Recordings of particular note are: The Six Brown Brothers displaying their virtuosity and versatility as a circus ensemble at their final recording in 1927; the powerful sound of the Guarde Republicaine utilizing Saxhorns and saxophones; Jean Moeremans soloing at a blistering speed, and not impeded by the double octave keys; the first recording of altissimo by H. Benne Henton in 1919; Marcel Mule's infamous recital given in Elkhart, Indiana in 1958 with his personal commentary; the only live performance of Rudy Wiedoeft, and the world's first electrical recording featuring Wiedoeft performing his most popular piece, Saxophobia. There is a previously unknown panel interview with Mule, Rascher, Leeson, Londeix, and Josse found unlabeled in a television station's archives. Also included are the complete existing audio and video output of both Marcel Mule and Sigurd Rascher.

Video highlights include: movie shorts of Rudy Wiedoeft; the only surviving film of The Six Brown Brothers (1923); a master class and performance of Rascher featuring a very young Carina; all known interviews with Marcel Mule; and an Italian movie, shown in its entirety, featuring the music of Giovanni Fusco who wrote the score performed by Mule. This rarest of Mule's performances was discovered by reading an old map included in a letter which disclosed the location of a reel of film not known to exist. The opening credits list Marcel Mule as saxophonist, but his performance is surprising because of the musical setting which is entirely different from any we have ever heard.

The accompanying 170 page illustrated book is an incredible resource in itself. Jackson includes a detailed history of the development of the saxophone including; details of Sax's patents and prototypes; details and photos of the patented improvements of others who produced saxophones, such as Evette-Schaeffer (Apogee System), Nilsson Freres (Georges system), Conn (Loomis system), and Leconte (Bohem system). The book traces the performance history of the saxophone showing actual programs, photos of performers and ensembles. A historical background is provided ranging from Sax's role in the development of the French military bands, and their influence on the bands of Sousa and Gilmore, to the history of the saxophone in Germany and its effect on Sigurd Rascher's career.

As educators, we know how important it is to impart a sense of tradition and respect for our relatively brief history. Reading about it is one thing, but hearing and seeing the masters who originated the saxophone tradition is quite another. Thanks to the research of Mr. Jackson we have a visual and aural archive of our early history unlike any instrument.

The scope and breadth of this collection is enormous, meant for the scholar and the serious student of saxophone, and should be included in every university and conservatory library for reference. Mr. Jackson's sole intention has been to create this scholarly archive so that our history is not entirely lost to the destruction of time. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Andrew Jackson and are very lucky to have access to this research. It has been a true privilege and honor to review this collection.

Reviewed in: The Saxophone Symposium
Reviewed by:  Michael L. Keepe
Date:  Volume 33   Year  2009

Thank you very much -- for your contribution to many important facets of the saxophone and its development as a true artistic instrument.

Eugene Rousseau, PhD
Professor of Saxophone
Indiana University

Artist Professor
University of Minnesota

This work embodies your considerable research into the classical saxophone and its history in the printed, recorded, and visual records, and we are most appreciative.

Sincerely,
Eugene DeAnna
Head, Recorded Sound Section
The Library of Congress
Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
Washington, D.C.

I have listened to the recordings and have read the book. It's all very exciting.

…….. it would be an understatement to say that I am extremely impressed with the level of effort that you and your associates have gone to in order to present this rare and important material. It's truly beautiful.

I am certainly glad and grateful that you have continued with your research. Your work is an excellent testament to the value of passionate scholarship.

I do thank you for what you have done for all classical saxophonists of all the Symphony Orchestras of the world.

Yours Sincerely,
John Stefulj
Professor of Saxophone
Queensland Conservatium
Brisbane, Australia

From: Donald Sinta

Friday March 28, 2014

I love the collection and especially the earliest history.

Donald Sinta
Arthur F. Thurnau and Earl V. Moore Professor of Saxophone
School of Music, Theater and Dance
University of Michigan
E.V. Moore Building
1100 Baits Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109