Why the saxophone is suddenly back in the clubs
Once the punchline of every eighties soundtrack, the sax is now the most-booked instrument on the late-night circuit.
Walk into any club after one in the morning this autumn and there is a good chance you will hear it: a saxophone played live over a DJ set, looping, answering the kick drum, sometimes taking over completely.
Promoters say the instrument does something a laptop cannot. It is loud enough to cut through a sound system, it moves around the room, and audiences can see a person working.
Some nights it is magic, and some nights it is a man in a hat playing the same four notes for an hour.
Not everyone is convinced. “Some nights it is magic,” one DJ told us, “and some nights it is a man in a hat playing the same four notes for an hour.” Both, we can confirm, are true.
