I created a previous thread about the alleged benefits of the sterling silver octave pips used by P. Mauriat on its new horn: The latest sax-body sonic technology. I'm not soliciting a reiteration of comments and/or derision on that subject in this thread.
What I wanted to discuss in this thread is that I believe the P. Mauriat Master 97 alto is the first saxophone from a Taiwanese manufacturer that directly, rather than incidentally, appears to cater to the classical saxophonist. The very first sentence of the U.S. distributor's press release alerts us that something different is at work: "In the winter of 2011, the P. Mauriat team began designing a horn that could thrive in the hands of both professional classical musicians and commercial musicians." A promotional "review" on the P. Mauriat website emphasizes this goal: "As a performer of both classical and jazz genres, my ideal saxophone is one I can play in multiple styles comfortably and confidently. ... The Master 97A ... has resistance perfect for creating a warm classical tone without sacrificing the ability to be free-blowing and edgy when needed."
Up until now, the Taiwanese manufacturers have pretty much ignored the classical alto market, first by promoting their tenors most heavily, and also by positioning their altos as either powerful and edgy, or "vintage"-sounding in the American jazz sense. Unlike Selmer Paris, Yamaha, Buffet, and to a somewhat lesser extent Yanagisawa, the Taiwanese haven't really focused on selling "classical" attributes such as a dark, elegant tone, outstanding intonation, and evenness across registers, nor have they put forward large numbers of classical players as endorsers. But I get the impression now that P. Mauriat has decided that it's been missing out on a nice market (schools and universities?), and is broadening its product line accordingly.
Has anyone played the Master 97 alto yet? It just came out in 2015, and I haven't read anything about it on SOTW, which is why I've posted.
What I wanted to discuss in this thread is that I believe the P. Mauriat Master 97 alto is the first saxophone from a Taiwanese manufacturer that directly, rather than incidentally, appears to cater to the classical saxophonist. The very first sentence of the U.S. distributor's press release alerts us that something different is at work: "In the winter of 2011, the P. Mauriat team began designing a horn that could thrive in the hands of both professional classical musicians and commercial musicians." A promotional "review" on the P. Mauriat website emphasizes this goal: "As a performer of both classical and jazz genres, my ideal saxophone is one I can play in multiple styles comfortably and confidently. ... The Master 97A ... has resistance perfect for creating a warm classical tone without sacrificing the ability to be free-blowing and edgy when needed."
Up until now, the Taiwanese manufacturers have pretty much ignored the classical alto market, first by promoting their tenors most heavily, and also by positioning their altos as either powerful and edgy, or "vintage"-sounding in the American jazz sense. Unlike Selmer Paris, Yamaha, Buffet, and to a somewhat lesser extent Yanagisawa, the Taiwanese haven't really focused on selling "classical" attributes such as a dark, elegant tone, outstanding intonation, and evenness across registers, nor have they put forward large numbers of classical players as endorsers. But I get the impression now that P. Mauriat has decided that it's been missing out on a nice market (schools and universities?), and is broadening its product line accordingly.
Has anyone played the Master 97 alto yet? It just came out in 2015, and I haven't read anything about it on SOTW, which is why I've posted.