Conical Tube or Going Straight

Cool Man. Thanks WES

In due respect a personal note: I was not really grovin on Tranes use of a Straight B Tenor sax. I dig Trane on the traditional Conical instrument.

"The simplest design of saxophone is a straight conical tube, and the sopranino and soprano saxophones are usually of this straight design. However, as the lower-pitched instruments would be unacceptably long if straight, for ergonomic reasons the larger instruments usually incorporate a U-bend at or slightly above the third-lowest tone hole. As this would cause the bell of the instrument to point almost directly upwards, the end of the instrument is either beveled or tilted slightly forwards. This U-shape has become an iconic feature of the saxophone family, to the extent that soprano and even sopranino saxes are sometimes made in the curved style even though this is not strictly necessary. By contrast, tenors and even baritones have occasionally been made in the straight style.[4][5] Most commonly, however, the alto and tenor saxophones incorporate a curved 'crook' above the highest tone hole but below the top speaker hole, tilting the mouthpiece through 90 degrees; the baritone, bass and contrabass extend the length of the bore mainly by double-folding this section." Also I might add that I have never gotten into the JazzFlute, except as contributing to a classical ensamble. Call me square.

Sit back and dig this wonderful Coltrane performance in France as a tribute to Wes's tour.

July 27, 1965 in Antibes

John Coltrane - Tenor Sax
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Jimmy Garrison - Bass
Elvin Jones - Drums