Old Ranch Dinner Dance 8/29/2010

Let The Music Begin...

Steve Dudek was here this evening for great music.

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Vince and Nancy dancing the night away

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
James and Monica... Look out Monica for your toes!

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
John and Ernie show us how it is done

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
The Sax is back!


Soprano, Alt, and Tenor Sax

Did you know? - The saxophone (also referred to as the sax) is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian Adolphe Sax in 1841.

He wanted to create an instrument that would both be the most powerful and vocal of the woodwinds and the most adaptive of the brass, which would fill the then vacant middle ground between the two sections. He patented the sax in 1846 in two groups of seven instruments each.

Each series consisted of instruments of various sizes in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭, designed for military bands, has proved extremely popular and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. A few saxophones remain from the less popular orchestral series pitched in C and F. These instruments never gained a foothold in the orchestral world. Although the C-melody was quite popular in the late 20's and early 30's as a parlor instrument it never gained a legitimate standing.

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Between dances

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Monica is not too sure....

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
The sax at work

Did you know? - The saxophone first gained popularity in the niche it was designed for: the military band. Although the instrument was studiously ignored in Germany, French and Belgian military bands took full advantage of the instrument that Sax had designed specifically for them. Most French and Belgian military bands incorporate at least a quartet of saxophones comprising at least the E♭ baritone, B♭ tenor, E♭ alto and B♭ soprano. These four instruments have proved the most popular of all of Sax's creations, with the E♭ contrabass and B♭ bass usually considered impractically large and the E♭ sopranino insufficiently powerful. British military bands tend to include at minimum two saxophonists on the alto and tenor.

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Come on in... Water is fine!

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Great sounds eminating from the dining room

Did you know? - Although not true saxophones, inexpensive keyless folk versions of the saxophone made of bamboo were developed in the 20th century by instrument makers in Hawaii, Jamaica, Thailand, Indonesia, and Argentina. The Hawaiian instrument, called a xaphoon, was invented during the 1970s and is also marketed as a "bamboo sax," although its cylindrical bore more closely resembles that of a clarinet, and its lack of any keywork makes it more akin to a recorder. Jamaica's best known exponent of a similar type of homemade bamboo "saxophone" was the mento musician and instrument maker 'Sugar Belly' (William Walker).

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Fast song!

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Oh oh.... Time to flash!!

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010 Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
John gets a quick lesson

  Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010

Yup! It's Us... We Closed The Place Down

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
The dance floor looks lonely

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010

An Interesting Picture...

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Picture taken OUT the window so you are seeing the reflection from inside the room

Must Leave So Everybody Can Go Home...

Old Ranch Dinner Dance August 29, 2010
Time to depart.... Goodbye all until next time!