A saxophonist for all seasons
Randy Emerick first started playing gigs with Ted
Knight more than 20 years ago. The two met while playing together
in the big band led by Ted's late father, Vic Knight. At left, Randy plays
baritone sax for a Glenn Miller tribute
sponsored by the Boynton Beach Veteran's Council.
Randy is an expert woodwind technician by day,
with musical talent to match his technical skills. His credits include dates
with
Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Liza Minnelli, Johnny Mathis, and Natalie
Cole.
He's played rock and roll with Wayne Cochran, R&B with the
Temptations, jazz with Jaco Pastorius and the Brecker brothers, and
classical with the Palm Beach Pops and Boca Pops.
He delights in unusual horns such as the
green straight alto sax pictured at right. His collection includes mid-19th century
instruments made by Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, and a full range
of instruments from the tiny "soprillo" piccolo sax to the massive
contra-bass.
Randy enjoyed the time Ted hired him to play bass sax with a keyboard-trumpet-and-sax trio for a party. The unusual instrumentation
proved so successful that they ended up playing overtime.
Randy says he may be the only bass saxophonist in history to play a five-hour
gig with a trio, although he did switch to tenor once in a while for
variety. That's the bass sax he played at the party in the picture at right,
the big one he looks ready to play.
 Enter
the tubax
Randy now plays a new type of contra-bass saxophone
purchased directly from
Eppelsheim, the
company that invented the instrument. It's called a
tubax because its
range is similar to that of a tuba.
 Conventional
contra-bass saxophones look like the one played by Don Stevens with the
Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra,
at right. Randy liked the tubax so much that he also
bought a new bass sax made by Eppelsheim. Click any of the pictures for a
closer look.
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