Saxophones

November 7, 2009

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Profile America — Saturday, November 7th. Today is a big day on the college football schedule, and tens of thousands of people will be jamming the stands to see their favorite teams on the gridiron. Part of the fun in attending a college game is the music played by each school’s band. One of the key instruments in these bands is the saxophone. The family of brass wind instruments with reed mouthpieces were invented by Adolph Sax of Belgium, whose birthday was noted yesterday. Saxophones were first used in symphonic music, but gained worldwide fame when American jazz artists such as Sidney Bechet, Lester Young and Charlie Parker explored their sound and dynamic range. Today, saxophones are an important part of the inventory in the nearly 4,500 music stores around the nation, which sell close to $5 billion worth of instruments, music and supplies each year. Profile America is in its 13th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 540
2002 Economic Census, NAICS 451140
http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/data/industry/E451140.HTM