Springsteen's Rosalita - alto, tenor or bari?

[philly_sax]

I know Clarence Clemmons typically plays tenor, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what he's playing on Rosalita. I worked it out on tenor, but it takes me to high D and the sound is fairly puny. A bari would give me a better sound on the high end, but on the low end sounds lower than what's on the record. Alto might better reproduce the high end, but I'm not sure about the low end. Ideas?

[MojoBari]

Clarence can wail on any note. "The Sound" is his thing more than his note choices. He plays it on tenor for sure. What is your experiance level and what kind of mouthpiece/reed are you using?

[philly_sax]

I am in my third year back playing after of hiatus of about 20 years. I grew up playing big band jazz. I was using a Brillhart Ebolin mouthpiece with a Rovner dark ligature but switched to a fairly bright metal Bari with a light Rovner for the rock sound. The horn itself has nice tone in the middle and lower registers, but is basically a student or advanced student model is suspect, from the guards over the lower pads and the lyre holder. It's called an "Orpheum Super" and looks like Selmer might have made it, but I have never been able to find its true pedigree. Got it in a pawn shop and often wondered if the mouthpiece was worth more than the horn!

[MojoBari]

I still play more big band music than rock. Those are the calls I get (bari sax). In old-style big band, high Ds on sax are played sweetly. Rarely will it be proper to approach a Clarence sound. Dirty blues and stripper music would be it.

It helps to have a bright mouthpiece that is somewhat open. A high baffle can help. When he is wailing, I think his throat is wide open and the sound is really full and resonating. He adds a touch of growl by humming while he is playing this way.

You can play brighter on most mouthpieces simply by putting a little more of it in your mouth. This keeps your bottom lip away from dampening the sound. If you play loud and it closes off, you can try a harder reed. But now you risk losing the ability to play low notes with volume control. Rock players usually just honk on these notes anyhow. Hope this helps.

[10mfan]

I've known Clarence for about 10 years now. If you havent heard him in a small club setting, you cant possibly imagine just how big his sound REALLY is! He told me he was using a runyon 11 with a 4 reed, last we talked !!!!
plasticover mostly, though he experiments like we all do. His sound is beyond HUGE. Keilwerth horns on the road with Bruce, and Mark vi's at the house in Florida.
Believe it or not, he told me that of all the guys he's recorded with, and there have been MANY, he said without question, the best sax player alive today is Dave Koz!
I know Koz plays very well, but I think I will forever be blown away by that statement. Can you imagine he said that?...Its true.

[barfdog17]

could yo possibly post the music for it, for those of us whose ears decieve us... ( yeh, i know, i just confused myself too...)