Having Sax

Last night, I watched one of the modern masters of the tenor saxophone, Scott Hamilton, perform his magic at the Tel Aviv Opera House in front of a huge, immensely appreciative crowd. Scott has distilled the art of Ben, Lester, Coleman and Gene, and delivers an immaculately smooth sound with more subtle hues than the autumn leaves back in his native Rhode Island. His trademark ballads transport you like a 12 year old single malt whiskey. Scott was accompanied by his rhythm section (John Pearce on piano, Dave Green on double bass and Steve Brown on drums) direct from London. They were an immense treat. A quartet of great musicians and lovely people (I got a brief chance to chat with them).

Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in Belgium about 160 years ago. He died long before it found its true vocation as the instrumental voice of jazz in the 1920s. I wish he could have been in the crowd last night. My father-in-law calls music "the food of the soul". There was a lot on the menu last night.