martes, agosto 19, 2014

Too much sax

Too Much Sax... could be bad for your health!
By Sara Marani LONDON, Dec 17

Saxophone players are more likely to die for their art than other musicians, British researchers said on Friday.

The claim, published in the authoritative British Medical Journal (BMJ), shows that among jazz musicians, playing the saxophone is a major health hazard because less blood is able flow to the brain. “Our studies showed that musicians tend to die quite young but especially saxophonists” Dr. Sanjay Kinra, who carried out the research, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The association between woodwind players, especially saxophonists, and mortality does have a plausible biological explanation, he said.
 “The saxophonists, like other wind instrument players, all use circular breathing -- you fill your lungs and neck with air and you try to breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose,” he explained.
“That's pretty dangerous because you could argue that as they play, especially during long solos, they raise the pressure in the neck region which can slow the blood flow to the brain (cerebrovascular ischaemia) or cause blood clots to form (thrombo-embolism).”

The researchers made a compendium of more than 800 jazz musicians born between 1882 and 1974 looking at life span, the instruments played and whether they played multiple instruments. “Those people playing the saxophone were two and half times more likely to die -- but that's just a pattern, we're not saying it's cause and effect,” Kinra said. 
Musicians who divide their talent between two or more instruments are less at risk, Kinra said, because the time spent circular breathing is less concentrated.
Kinra said “the dangers for saxophonists could be due in part to the lifestyles of jazz musicians, who tend to play in smokey bars and clubs and for long periods at a time.” 
Kinra quoted the words of famous jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins: “Sometimes when I am in the midst of really good performance, my mind will imperceptibly switch to automatic pilot and I find myself just standing there while the spirit of jazz, as it were, occupies my body... It is a profound spiritual experience.”
“Spiritual experience or cerebrovascular ischaemia, who knows?” jibed Kinra.

© Copyright Oscar Grillo 2014


(Lawrence "Bud" Freeman died aged 85)

Música:
Bud Freeman and The Four City Seven plus One
The eel (1970)
Philips (Du)6410 120

Bud Freeman and The Four City Seven plus One: Bud Freeman (ts) Bart Dal (tp) Piet Saakes (tb) Daan Wilthagen (cl) Jan Hoeks (ts) Marcel Hendricks (p) Hans Kreyts (g) Jos Bruggeman (b) Jeroen Ophoff (d). Hilvarenbeek, September 28, 1975

6 comentarios:

El Turco Quique. dijo...

Se parece a Joyce.

Oscar Grillo dijo...

O a Pessoa

Oscar Grillo dijo...

...Y Benny Carter a los 96, editor.

dodo dijo...

Can too much sax lead to the White House?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alv7N6Ynm1Y

Oscar Grillo dijo...

Talking about the the saxophone playing of Bill Clinton, The guitarist Howard Alden told me: He doesn't "play" saxophone, he "owns" an instrument.

El editor dijo...

Bastante loquito este artículo.
Para empezar: de la de la famosa foto de Art Kane de 1958 en Harlem -click aquí- los dos únícos sobrevivientes de esa fantástica reunión de 57 músicos de jazz son saxofonistas: Benny Golson (85) y Sonny Rollins (83). Además Oscar: si, no sólo Benny Carter falleció bien grande, también... Frank Wess (91), Earle Lavon "Von" Freeman Sr (88) Joseph Edward Filipelli (Flip Phillips) (86) James Moody (85) Johnny Griffin (80) Teddy Edwards (79)... de los que me acuerdo ahora. Y todavía soplando: Jimmy Heath (87), Ornette Coleman (84) Phil Woods (82) Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (81) George Coleman (79) sin entrar a pensar mucho.
La gente se muere cuando se tiene que morir, toque lo que toque, haga lo que haga.

Dodo: I do not know if too much sax can lead you to the White House. But I'm sure if you have as much courage to play the saxophone (rather ugly) in front of those geniuses, such courage can send you to the House of any color in any dominant position of the Milky Way...