Saxophobia: Celebrating The Sax Craze Of The 1920 – Chad Smith

Famously invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, the saxophone quickly became an established part of French and British military bands, but remained a novelty instrument elsewhere until it gained a foothold in vaudeville and ragtime bands in 1920s America. From there, it became an essential part of dance bands, and a prominent solo instrument in jazz.

A great deal of this early development can be attributed to one musician – Rudy Wiedoeft. Born into a musical family, Rudy became a virtuoso clarinettist at an early age, before becoming obsessed with the saxophone in 1914. Coinciding with the start of the dance craze, he was convinced he could make a better living as saxophonist than as an orchestral clarinettist and spent the following years forming and running bands for nightclubs and cabaret, and writing and recording his own virtuosic pieces for saxophone. Concentrating on recording over performing, he became a household name, but the emergence of the jazz era and its new star musicians eventually overshadowed his work, and his achievements and influence slipped into obscurity.

Multi-instrumentalist, educator, and virtuoso saxophonist, Chad Smith instigated this album both as a tribute to and in order to shine a light on this largely forgotten innovator. A veteran of Broadway since 2002, Smith has made an astonishing career which spans live and studio work at the highest level, featuring in a diverse range of soundtracks from Star Wars to The Simpsons. He has appeared as a soloist with most of America’s premier symphony orchestras, and has collaborated with innumerable artists such as Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Lady Gaga.