Engaging with Sax — Good as I Am — Merry Holiday

Falling into the Sax

When I was in the fourth and fifth grade, I played the clarinet, and then I quit. When I was an adult, I had an associate degree in nursing, and I wanted a master’s degree, so I had to get a bachelor’s degree. I had 190 credits but never put it together for a degree. So, I went to the local community college, where we were living in West Virginia. I went to the music department, and I said, “I’d like to get clarinet lessons.” I figured that’d be some credits. And they said, “no, if you’re not becoming a music teacher, you can’t get lessons.” A guy walked through the room while we were having this conversation and he overheard it and he said, “Oh, listen, I have a jazz band. I need somebody to play saxophone. Can you play the saxophone?” I said, “no, but I used to play the clarinet.” He said, “we’ll give you a saxophone. Why don’t you play saxophone for us?” I said, “if you give me clarinet lessons and saxophone lessons, I’ll play in the jazz band.” That was five credits. I needed 11. We had a deal. And so, I started playing the saxophone.

This holiday article, dedicated to my mom, highlights life under my musician hat.

Engaged with Sax — First round

In April 2016, I wrote a post with Geri Lynn Baumblatt in the Association for…