When I was still at school, in Cornwall, I used to learn to improvise (on clarinet) by playing along to a Charlie Ventura LP - he was on a variety of saxophones - often playing the 33rpm record at 16rpm (half speed) to at least give me a chance to keep up.
Lovely raspy solo here, dapper moustache n'all, from 1:25, playing on Gene Krupa's "Leave us Leap" - great audio quality, suspect the film clip has been 'tweaked'. And again at 2:15, natty braces Chas !
It was obvious even then that, sooner or later, I'd leg it to the nearest Secondhand Shop and swap the clarinet for a saxophone ! But there weren't many Secondhand Shops, let alone with old saxophones for sale, in Cornwall in the late 50's / early 60's.
But that was a few years later, in Bath, just behind the Bus Station, where I swapped my school clarinet for a knackered old 'York' silver plated (well, mostly...) alto sax - and then, shortly afterwards, I joined my first Soul Band - Heart 'n Soul. Wiltshire Soul rocked !!!
How can I remember all that from the 60's, but yesterday is a pretty much a blur...? Sigh...
!
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