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Saxophilm - Sounds & Sights of the 20's

SAX-O-PHILM and Chad Smith

What is SAX-O-PHILM?

I want to introduce you to Sax-O-Philm, Sounds and Sights of the 20’s, a show full of century-old, feel good music, that will bring a smile to your face and joy to your heart. Our current world holds a lot of parallels to the world a hundred years ago, and what’s old is new again. When I first heard this music growing up, I had never heard anything like it. The music is tour-de-force, it sings and shouts, I caught the 1920’s “bug.” It energized me to practice and drove me to play like no one else, a style I could master. The titles of the songs, Sax-O-Trix, Saxophobia, and Sax-O-Phun set the tone for the evening. The show features myself playing the saxophone along with harp, stride piano, female dancer/singer, and the legendary Vince Giordano on bass, banjo, and vocals. Sax-O-Philm can be done with this core group alone or with a full orchestra, with stylistic orchestrations premiered by the Broadway Chamber Players in New York City, 2019. Clips from silent movies and cartoons add to the impact of this show. They pair together perfectly.

For the last twenty years I have spent my professional career performing on Broadway, with prominent symphony orchestras such as the Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras, and recording major motion pictures. I created Sax-O-Philm, Sounds and Sights of the 20’s, because I wanted to share the music that captured this “old soul” of mine. I play on a vintage Mark VI, the saxophone played by the person that made this music famous, on an instrument passed down through family and teachers. I feel honored to own it, like a Stradivarius passed down through a lineage. It gives me a connection to this music and the way it is meant to be played.

Sax-O-Philm, Sounds and Sights of the 20’s can be presented as a trio, five piece group or full orchestra. The backdrop of silent movies and cartoons accompany all 3 packages. It’s a perfect fit for pops, family, or education concerts, film nights, and Roaring 20’s events. Arrangements/Orchestrations available are:

  • 1920’s Overture
  • Entracte/Sax-O-Phun
  • Valse Mazanetta
  • Hora Staccato
  • Sax-O-Trix
  • Valse Vanite
  • Rubenola
  • Saxophobia
  • Saxarella