Do you also have a reoccurring theme in your weeks? A topic that just keeps coming back in various conversations or in whatever else that happens in the week? Mine is an instrument this week. It’s the saxophone.
It all started with hearing one of those typically 80s songs on the radio, in which the saxophone plays a huge part. No, it wasn’t even “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, but that would be one of the tracks that would come to mind, wouldn’t it? And otherwise, it would probably be ”Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty. But it was just one of the many other forgotten songs from that era that rode the wave of those sexy saxophone sounds.
Hearing the song just reminded me of the change music seems to have gone through. Horn sections played more of a part in pop music from the 80s and 90s. In particular, the saxophone had an uplift in the 90s with Curtis Stigers’ “I Wonder Why”, Take That’s “A Million Love Songs” and some of the remakes of 80s hits.
However, it was also during the 90s when music changed significantly. Thanks to hip hop music merging more and more with R&B, music became based around loops and repetition. Drums and bass could, at times, be all a song would need. It’s become the foundation that we still use for songs today.
Of course there was this one lady, the daughter of a saxophone player, who was made even more famous in the 90s thanks to Prince’s shout out: “When I want sax I call Candy”.
Candy Dulfer has expanded her musical adventure in recent years and is also singing on the side. Every year, she’s part of the Ladies of Soul; an event that brings the biggest Dutch female singers together to relive the best of soul music from past, present and future. And yes, she’s still one of the best saxophone players in the world.
Much to my surprise, I found out it was Candy Dulfer’s birthday yesterday. I saw a radio station mention it, retweeted their tweet and got retweeted myself by Candy. That made my saxophone theme come full circle this week.
