Speaking to some of the younger generation of today, if you mention saxophone to them they’ll instantly associate it with being “old fashioned.”  While the saxophone certainly has a rich and storied history, it is wrong to suggest that it belongs in the past.

In fact, all you have to do is look at some of the hottest bands today and you can see how much of a part saxophone has to play.  While bands like Coldplay, Muse, and Green Day don’t have saxophonists in their actual line-up, they commonly use them during recording sessions and subsequently during tours.  The sax is obviously still a massive part of the global jazz scene, but it doesn’t look out of place in any setting.

Why does the presence of the sax work in modern music, and is it here to stay?

It’s Something Different

Music is a strange beast, and that is partly down to the fact that music critics and music lovers are strange beasts themselves.

Imagine you get a band that releases music with a very distinct sound.  Blink 182 and Oasis are two bands that have stood accused of releasing music that all sounds the same in the recent past.

Yet, when bands step away and do something different, they’re hated for not staying true to their signature sound.  You can’t please everyone all the time!

The different sound is the main reason sax works today.  Modern musicians are usually credited more than scorned for trying something different, and it immediately becomes something fans and the media pick up on.  How many times has a band done something different and the first question regarding a new record has been about the new sound?  It happens every time.

Sax Isn’t Old Fashioned!

Time to shoot down what youngsters might think about the saxophone.  Saxophone playing, and indeed the whole of the jazz music genre in general, has evolved and moved with the times.

Now, jazz and sax are cool again.  While jazz clubs aren’t anywhere near as popular as dance clubs might be, they’re still thriving and becoming an essential part of a night out for many.  More so, people are getting used to hearing punky sax riffs and other unusual sounds, a world away from most people’s traditional view of sax, which is usually a gentle, easy listening type of style.

Today, it is common to find sax played alongside heavy metal riffs, in slow, melancholic songs, and in various other types of music.

Musicians are More Open Minded

Music by its very nature is reliant on the creativity of those practicing it, and while musicians in general need to be an open minded bunch, there is definitely less tension between artists in different genres now than at any time in the past.

The lines between one genre and another have never been more blurred, and this lack of identity means the sax as well as other instruments can easily pop up and fit in anywhere.

There’s no getting away from it: sax and modern music just work, whether it is with sax as part of the re-emerging jazz scene or within a heavier, rockier sound.

Is the sax going to go away?  Don’t bet on it!