Sax Guy

Berkeley Marina Sax Guy

This guy–where the heck he comes from I don’t know. He rides his bike out to the park on the old garbage dump by the marina, and he blows and blows on his tenor saxophone. You can hear him a half mile away, and Scout (a.k.a. The Dog) pricks up his ears whenever he hears the squalling blasts coming across the landfill’s little ridges and hills. The guy was out there playing today; puts me in mind of–who was it? Sonny Rollins?–who used to go out and practice on the Brooklyn Bridge (or maybe the Williamsburg Bridge). Scout wasn’t shy at all. Just walked up and lay down right next to where the guy was playing. Soon after we showed up, he realized I was there and not just moving along, and he stopped playing. I told him he sounded like Ian Underwood, who played with Frank Zappa; no response. He said, “I’m working.” I asked whether it was OK with him if I took some pictures. Eventually he said, “I really don’t think I take any pictures today.” I had been shooting a low-res video of him, but after he said that, we moved on.

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2 Replies to “Sax Guy”

  1. Yeah. It was Sonny Rollins who used to practice on the Brooklyn Bridge. I think your site is great.

  2. I highly encourage you to buy a copy of Sonny Rollins’ “The Bridge.” It’s one of his best, and obviously inspired by his sessions beneath said bridge.

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