Santy Runyon, RIP

[saxgourmet]

I just got the call: Santy passed away this evening. He would have been 96 years old on April 8. I'm not at home, and have no details on arrangements, but will post them as they become available.

He was a great friend and teacher to me, and to countless other saxophonists. I was lucky enough to learn much from him. Nobody had more to teach than Santy.

[StevenW]

Mr Santy Runyon, R.I.P.

I am very sad to hear this.

Santy and his family will remain in our prayers.

It was only a couple months ago Santy built two mouthpieces for my Taragato and also sent one of my sons an Alto Finess Mouthpiece as he wanted the boy to start his learning with a proper mouthpiece.

Santy had often emailed me - and he was my oldest aged email correspondent at his 96 years of age.

Santy had kindly put my early comments on the Tenor Jaguar-V Mouthpiece on the Runyon Products website after discussing the mouthpiece by phone and by email.

Is the family all ok? I'd only spoken with Mrs Runyon once or twice.

Please keep us posted on what arrangements are set up.

Thank you for letting us know

StevenW :cry:

[Paul Coats]

For many years, since college, Santy has been a friend and mentor to me. Most of what I know of the saxophone, I learned from him.

For those that do not know of Santy's background, he began playing in his father's movie theater, in the pit band, back in the "silent movies" days. He started out on "traps", doing all the various sound effects: hoofbeats for horses, cap guns for cowboy gunfights, sheet of tin for thunder, etc. Later, he learned woodwinds.

By the time he was 17, he was "on the road" with the Jack Teagarden big band. He later played with Henry Busse and His Monmarte Orchestra, lead alto and arranger. Santy's hot dance arrangements (including Busse's theme, "Hot Lips"), with their shuffle rhythm and driving bass lines, were the hit of the day.

By the time he was age 21, in 1928, he was principal woodwind of the famous Chicago Theatre, where he played eight shows a day. The three night shows were broadcast coast to coast on NBC Radio. His playing was heard all over the country, and soon the word spread among professional players, "When you go to Chicago, be sure to take a lesson from Santy Runyon at the Chicago Theatre." Some years later his teaching skills were in such high demand that he had to quit the theatre and opened Runyon Studio, famous for turning out professional musician. His students were a virtual "Who's Who" of the jazz world... Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Paul Desmond, Lee Konitz, Chu Berry, Art Pepper, and many, many more.

His first commercial mouthpiece was the Runyon Custom bari sax mouthpiece, still produbed today. It was featured in an ad in Downbeat Magazine, endorsed by famous bari men Harry Carney (Duke Ellington) and Charlie Fowlkes (Count Basie).

Runyon Products, which started in 1939, continues to produce fine mouthpieces for students and professionals.

[kcp]

Will light a candle for him at my church.
My dearest condolence to all who were very close to this great man.

[Matt Carlton]

Another huge loss to the saxophone community. Fortunately Santy's legacy will live on for a long time.

~Matt

[George Briscoe]

I was priviledged to meet and play with Santy on just one occassion, two years ago at his 94th Birthday Party (the last one held) and he could still play circles around many of us. What a sweet old guy! His sense of humor was superb, he was still an excellent player, and most of all, a really nice guy. God speed, Santy!!!

[gary]

Yet more sad news this week. I was amazed that at his age and with his reputation he could and would carry on e-mail correspondence with people like me who are of little commercial benefit to him, other than the sheer joy of sharing what he loved.

Just think of the conversations he and Jon are having with one another now! And Bob Berg is there listening over their shoulders. What a nice thought.

[saxgourmet]

Here's my favorite picture of Santy: He was my houseguest and had just presented me with an ORIGINAL new Conn Comet mouthpiece (manufactured by Runyon Products) for my Conn 28M (designed by Santy). Thanks to Paul Coats for the picture.

http://www.saxgourmet.com/friends/santy%20runyon.jpg

[Brice B.]

Our Sax community has taken a hard hit in the last year. Santy was a wonderfully positive man. God bless him!

[Ytrac Productions]

The news of Mr. Runyon's passing is very downheartening. Santy was this incredibly energetic older gentleman whom I met at the 1995 NAMM show in Nashville. He demonstrated several of his new products, answered questions with his full interest, and told some of the best stories ever.

I have an uncle who had befriended Mr Runyon. Roy would go down to Santy's place and take him fishing on weekend.

Santy, I know you are looking down from heaven. And knowing you, you have that great band in the sky playing your mouthpieces. Save a Spoiler #7 Bari mpc in red for me.

My prayers are with the family and friends of Mr Runyon and Mr VanWie

[Paul Coats]

Ytrac, if your uncle is Roy F, yes, Santy was an avid fisherman and truly loved being able to go fishing with Roy.

Another Runyon company, Dixieland Tackle Company. The logo was fish in a boat, they were playing instruments... hah!

[Bootman]

Santy will be missed, another sad loss for the Sax community.

[Jody Espina]

I don't feel that I have words at this time. Santy was so generous with us all and he changed my life profoundly. His spirit will never die in any of us who have known him and I hope that we can follow his example and be kind and good and generous and have a fanatical will to create new great things. Thank you Santy for everything!

[sarge]

God Bless Santy. He will be missed greatly. He touched many lives with his talent and humor and I for one find the world a lesser place for his absence.
My sincere condolences to his family and many friends.
sarge

[Bear]

My condolences go out to Santy's friends and family and the folks at Runyon Products. He was the grandfather of the sax community to a lot of us here on SOTW.

[Tim Price]

Mr Santy Runyon, R.I.P.
What a loss.He was without a doubt...a trail blazer.

This is sad news.

I'll share with you guys, something I 'll never forget about Mr. Runyon.
One time..at a NAAM show..I was there with Guardala doing clinics etc.
I was thrilled to have met Mr Runyon and Arnold Brillhardt on the SAME day.
SO, the next day I got in to the show early,to warm up.
WELL....guess who was there AHEAD of me? Yup-Mr Runyon 8)
I asked him about his control/sound and stuff like that.He had a perfect saxophone sound,with color and expression.
We started talking about- LONG TONES.So he gives me a one the spot lesson on a cool long tone exercise.It was someting,loaded with intervals,slow tones moving really hip.
As he finished,he sais..now you can play it a bit faster, and starts to play it a wee bit faster...as he does it he's lookin' me straight in the eye.Then I got it.
MAN- THIS GUY....whatta genius...he was playing the VERSE..to STARDUST so slow, and made a long tone study out of it!!! I realized what he did and we both cracked up on the spot.What a brilliant, PRACTICAL musician.
He will be missed.I'll never foget him.

[GT]

I didn't know Mr. Santy. I wish I had. Amen to all of the above. :cry:

[Tim Price]

Paul- and Steve and Jody...you guys are wiser for knowing him as you did.Consider yourselves blessed.
Didn't he also make fishing lures and stuff for fun?
This man was a deep human being.
Very sad, He WAS a legend :cry:

[Paul Coats]

Yes, under the name Dixieland Tackle Company. Santy was always one to see a problem, and engineer a way to fix it. His grandson "birdnested" an open face reel, so Santy invented a device to slip over the spool and keep the line tight on the spool. And other tackle and gadgets.

Santy had a patent attorney on retainer, I am serious, and many patents.

Santy was a lifelong, avid fisherman, as were the late Bob Berg and Jon Van Wie.

I would like to think the three of them are fishing now, quietly talking sax stuff, and maybe even catching a few nice ones.

Yes, Tim, we are all blessed for having known Santy. The first time I met him, he gave me a two hour lesson, started me on altissimo, and taught me more than I had learned in several years as a music major in college. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. He was always generous with his time and knowlege. I could not visit him without learning at least one new technique. Or he would call me up out of the blue, "Paul, how many fingerings do you know for middle C? OK, here's one more I just learned... finger Ab, and pick up the first finger of your left hand. Now, when you play an F minor arpeggio, all you do is wiggle your two index fingers, or it makes for a very fast D half diminished."

Or I would get a call, "Paul, I have something I have been working on you HAVE to see. How soon can you come up?" I used to joke, "I am Santy's guinea pig. He tries out all his new stuff on me first. If it doesn't kill me, then he knows it is safe to sell to little kids."
But seriously, I got to try many of his prototypes, and it was so cool to see an item, such as the Contoured Thumb Rest, or Pinky Palm Key, go from being a handmade prototype to a production item you could go buy in a store.

I used to call Santy "Mr. Wizard". Do any of you remember that show from the 1960's? Young Jimmy would come over to Mr. Wizard's (Don Herbert) workshop, "Hi, Mr. Wizard. Whatcha workin' on today?" "Well, Jimmy, today I am going to demonstrate how water gains volume as it is heated to steam, and loses volume as it condenses back to water again when it cools. Here, let' put a little water in this tin can, heat it over the bunsen burner..."

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/watchmrwiz/watchmrwiz.htm
http://www.tvacres.com/child_mrwizard.htm

It was just like that, all the time, with Santy.

[Harrell]

God bless you and keep you close to him, Mr. Santy Runyon.

[Paul Coats]

Regarding Steve's picture above, of Santy and Steve with the Conn 28M (Constellation)... a little story here:

I was at the Saxgourmet's place, and Steve showed me his favorite alto, his Constellation. He said, "Look at this, look how these keys fit your hand. And see the front F? Not a pearl, but a spatula like a modern sax. And look at THIS... THREE octave vents! Man, I'd LOVE to be able to pick the brain of the guy that designed this sax!"

I responded, "No problem, just call up Santy. He was one of the three designers." In fact, Mr. Runyon was featured in the Conn ads for this sax. I have a copy of one of the ads here.

So, after I left, Steve called Santy, and Santy mentioned that he had not seen a 28M for many years. They never were produced in great quantity because, like the 30M tenor, they were too expensive to produce.

Then I found out that Steve immediately packed up his favorite alto, and Fed Ex'd it to Santy to play with for a few months.

Then along came IAJE, hosted in New Orleans in early 2000. Steve invited Santy and me to be his houseguests, saving us money on hotel.

I picked up Santy, and we drove to New Orleans for IAJE. That evening, Santy returned Steve's prized 28M and said, "But, Steve, I notice you are missing a piece of your horn. You don't have the right mouthpiece. You know, not only did I work on that alto, I also designed and manufactured the Conn Comet mouthpiece for Conn just for that sax."

Well, having a vintage horn, and not the correct (distintive) mouthpiece, is like having a 69 GTO and not the correct Tiger Paw tires.

Santy reached into his pocket and took out a new Conn Comet mouthpiece, which he presented to Steve. And this picture was taken at that moment.

That is just how Santy was. Always thoughtful and giving, and now you know why he is called "Santy"... as in Santy Claus.

And as Paul Harvey says: "... and now you know... the REST of the story."

[Troy]

I didn't know Santy very well, but I mourn his loss because the world needs more kind, generous hearts like his. His giving spirit was everywhere, inspiring and spilling over into the lives of many of those around him.

When I ordered my Runyon SR 7 (thanks to Paul's advice, and the rave reviews of all the runyon fans on SOTW), I mentioned that I was just learning sax at the age of 37. Someone at the shop threw in a free neckstrap.

A small thing perhaps, but very thoughtful...and an unexpected surprise. It impressed me so much that since then, I've been looking for ways to do that sort of thing for others.

The world will be a better place because of Santy. I miss him already.

[Jody Espina]

I just wanted to report from Lafayette. Yesterday was a viewing for Mr. Runyon. His family and all the crew from the Factory were there. All day friends and family and musicians stopped by. There were pictures of Santy up in the room and a table with an assortment of Runyon mouthpieces, his curverd soprano and some of his fishing gear. There was also a slide show with many pictures from recent and past times. Flowers were coming in all day from all over the country. Many nice and beautiful things were said and many funny stories exchanged. Overall the atmosphere was a positive one with people expressing thanks of having known Mr. Runyon and the fact that he had such a full productive happy life.

Today is the funeral, there will be music at the service and then after the funeral there will be a reception with more music.

[sattva]

Everything that I have read about this man inspires the most profound respect and admiration for someone who has contributed enormously to the evolution of the saxophone and how to play it.

His life span covered, like a footprint, the most dynamic and creative period, and his wisdom informed some of the greatest protagonists of the art of sax playing in that age.

Those of you who were so priveleged to have been associated with Santy ought to put your heads together and pool the knowledge that you received from him - perhaps a book?? Just so that his wisdom is not lost for those that will come after...

[Paul Coats]

The storms work me up several times during the night. When I got up at 6am, the rain was beating hard against the windows. The drenching downpour was so bad, while driving toward New Orleans, I had to slow to 10-15 mph several times, and drive much of the way about 40 mph. I was running way late.

Picked up Steve Goodson, and we proceeded to Lafayette. The rain had slacked up to just a normal rain by this time. We made it there only about 20 minutes before the end of the viewing at noon.

Lots of friends there, fellow musicians, some we knew, some we didn't. We left for lunch, and came back for the service at 2:00.

Father Coco, a Jesuit Priest, and who had shared the stage many times with Santy, began the service. He then pulled his clarinet from behind the podium and played a beautiful "Just A Closer Walk With Thee", his low, rich, sweet clarinet tone filling the room. The service was not the standard "by the book" type, but improvised, as Santy would have liked it.

Bob and Norma Luckey performed, Bob on tenor, Norma sang and played flute, with Chet Blakistone on keys, and Father Coco joining in on a few more tunes. For you people not familiar with Louisiana, I'll bet you haven't been to a funeral like this. And some people wonder why I live here... why would I want to live anywhere else?

After, at A La Carte (in this restaurant's banquet room) Bob and I talked. Perhaps later we will hold a memorial party, maybe annually.

Donations in Santy Runyon's memory may be made to the same jazz scholarship fund at ULL he supported with the birthday parties in previous years, a cause dear to Santy. Contact Dr. Bob Luckey, saxangler@cox-internet.com or 337-482-5217.

[Troy]

...Perhaps later we will hold a memorial party, maybe annually...
I like it! This could continue on in the same venue as his birthday party. Just keep celebrating him even though he's only there in spirit.

[George Briscoe]

An annual party is a GREAT idea. Besides, Santy's birthday is right before the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans. It would be a wonderful reason for an annual road trip to Louisiana. At the very, very least, we need to have a big blowout party in four years to celebrate his Centennial!!!

[CashSax]

I did not know Santy..and really only became fully aware who he was after joining the forum..But what a true inspiration to us all he is..!

God Bless Ya Santy..

[Bear]

Another thing about Santy. Maybe the New Orleans folks can comment further - it seems like employee turnover at Runyon Products is nil. That speaks pretty highly to me of someone who knows how to get along with people.

[Paul Coats]

Yes, most all the employees have been there for a very long time. It is quite a "family" atmosphere.

[Jody Espina]

It is very much like a family and they have become like my second family. In the past five months I've been down there four times and I'm going in May. I usually work for a solid week, full time with the crew. They are the greatest and I consider them my friends. It does say a lot about a leader who can assemble such a good crew. I was very proud to be a pallbearer for Santy along with Leroy and Gervis, and Donovan from the Runyon crew and Santy's son in law, Santy's Doctor, Doctor Perez, and Eric Leblanc who was one of Santy's students.

Probably most people didn't know this but for many of the last recent years Santy had been giving lessons to a few students. He would never take any money as long as the parents would sit in on the lessons. Santy believed that the student would do better if the parent was involved and supportive. I had the opportunity to give some of these lessons with him. It was a great honor to teach with him. Of course I was learning right along with the student.

[Smokin' Joe]

I remember calling the Runyon company about 12 years ago, at 4 AM thinking I was going to leave a message when Santy answered the phone. I had called his house...I had no idea. Of course I apologized and Santy talked mouthpieces, the music business, my career, other sax players with me for about an hour. He was truly a genuine giver because of the love of his craft . He will be missed.

[sessionsax]

God bless you Santy. You leave a legacy! Hope to see you on the other side of the river.