Michael Phelps In An SNL Skit With A Bass Sax

Helen

Helen

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I don't know if any of you caught the season premiere of SNL last pm, but guest host Michael Phelps did a skit in which he "played" bass sax. (Lenny Pickett or one of the other sax players from the SNL most likely really played the lines.)

I did up a blog post about it today, and couldn't believe the amount of traffic that post got! The number of people searching Google (and a couple of other search engines, but mostly Google) for variations on "Michael Phelps SNL bass saxophone" was incredible. Perhaps I was right in my post, maybe last pm we did actually witness the beginnings the true bass sax renaissance.

Did anyone around here see it?
 
All bass sax is good bass sax. At my rehearsal last night, Phelps was the first topic of conversation. Sometimes when I show up with a bass saxophone and an arrangement that uses it, it's just another chart. When an internationally famous person hangs a bass sax around his neck, it's a big deal. Michael Phelps and Saturday Night Live have done us all a favor. They've raised awareness of an obscure instrument.

When someone asks, "Hey, Is that big horn the same one Michael Phelps played on Saturday Night Live?" the answer is yes.
 
The Rerun

Last night SNL ran a rerun of the season's opener. I managed to capture the "ugly kids" skit featuring the now famous bass sax scene with Phelps on the video mode of my camera. (Don't have a DVD recorder.)

I'm not going to put it up on my blog due to obvious copyright issues (not willing to have NBC's legal department slap a letter on me for something like this), but I am going to see if I can pull a frame or 2 out of it that is clearer than what we had before. (Since that one came off a camera phone.)

What I find amazing is that since the original air date (September 13th), people are still Googling for Phelps and sax or bari sax or bass sax or ugly kids or head gear, etc, etc. You get the idea. The amount of traffic I get daily for this post still, is quite surprising really. I knew Phelps was a hot commodity, but I had no idea how hot.

Too bad the bass sax in the skit was equated with such an awkward character. I'm not sure that it's going to inspire a huge upswing in the interest of our beloved bass saxophones.
 
The instrument in question was one of those IW whatever horns, with the "collapsed" crook. Phelps played it well enough, given the conditions in which he had to operate, and it was apparent that he had some prior experience with the "Devil's Instrument".

Still, it wasn't anything to write home about, musically, and certainly not on a par with the performance of "King Tut", where the bass sax has a place of honor in the horn line. That bit of cleverness, which featured Steve Martin singing his novelty hit, remains my favorite memory of Saturday Night Live.
 
I don't think he was actually playing. At one point he pulls the mouthpiece away from his face and the sound keeps on going.
 
He was DEFINITELY not playing it. The MP never actually entered his mouth, and he took it away too soon at the end before the music stopped.

I understand why he was panned as a host, he needs to stick to swimming.
 
Yamahaaltoplayer said:
Helen, the blog link doesn't work...:|
Click to expand...

I just tried it, and it works fine. It must have been a momentary hiccup when you tried. :emoji_astonished: I suspect the server gremlins were at it again...;-) Seriously though, my hosting company might have been doing an update. They usually do them on Sundays.
 
Helen said:
I just tried it, and it works fine. It must have been a momentary hiccup when you tried. :emoji_astonished: I suspect the server gremlins were at it again...;-) Seriously though, my hosting company might have been doing an update. They usually do them on Sundays.
Click to expand...

Ok, it works now. Thanks.
 
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