School Library Journal Starred Review (Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

K-Gr 3— This sweeping biography traces the life and legacy of Joseph-Antoine Adolph Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. In his youth, the curious, daydreaming boy works as an apprentice in his father's music shop, tinkering with reeds and brass components to create a new type of horn. As an adult, he champions his instrument before a skeptical public, eventually convincing countries around Europe to include it in their military marching bands. Though his widespread recognition later in life is marred by personal and financial hardship, Sax's influence spreads to America, where a series of musical innovators make the saxophone a standard of jazz performance. The well-established author-illustrator team achieves a strong, unified vision. Cline-Ransome tells the story in colorful detail, infusing the historical information with a lively, engaging voice. Ransome augments his loose, expressive line art with sparing touches of collage—notably, every saxophone in the book appears as a motley assemblage of photograph fragments, underscoring the instrument's status as an extraordinary composite. VERDICT An enjoyable read and a first purchase, especially for collections in need of accessible books on jazz history for younger readers.— Jonah Dragan

ALA Booklist (Tue Feb 28 00:00:00 CST 2023)

The saxophone, often associated with New Orleans jazz, was actually invented in Belgium. This engaging picture-book biography of its creator, Adolphe Sax, chronicles how this once-reviled instrument (the prototype was kicked across the floor when introduced at the Belgian National Exposition) made its way around the world, gaining acceptance in Europe, traveling to Mexico with French troops, and arriving in New Orleans in 1884. Adolphe Sax (who died in 1894) faced ongoing challenges in Belgium: he was sued, blackmailed, robbed, almost stabbed, and even the recipient of a bomb (found underneath his bed one night). Little did he know that, meanwhile, his so-called "devil's horn" was taking root in Louisiana's juke joints. African American musician Sydney Bechet first picked up the instrument, and he influenced other musicians, including Charlie Parker and other legends. Richly detailed, wonderfully expressive illustrations complement the text perfectly; endpapers are filled with portraits of famous saxophonists cradling their instruments. A satisfying story of a persistent, creative genius. Readers will almost be able to hear soft saxophone music playing in the background.

Horn Book (Fri Jan 13 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Perhaps no instrument is more associated with jazz than the saxophone. And no city more tied to both than New Orleans. But the history of the saxophone (originally saxophon), engagingly told here, begins across the Atlantic in the small Belgian town of Dinant, where the musician and inventor Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) was born into an instrument-making family. Sax's life provides the frame for the early parts of the story as he travels to France to bolster the instrument's popularity. After catching on in military bands across Europe, the saxophone traveled with the French army to Mexico and eventually made its way to New Orleans just in time for the dawn of the invention of jazz. Ransome's illustrations shine with careful detail, effortlessly cuing readers into changes in time and locale. One particularly memorable spread shows a black cat and three long, ominous human shadows containing text describing Sax's death with the wordless page opposite featuring a young Black child playing the saxophone -- and one can almost hear the funeral dirge coming out of its bell. Eric Carpenter

Kirkus Reviews

This collaboration spotlights the saxophone's European birth and wide adoption by American jazz musicians.Adolphe Sax, a 19th-century Belgian instrument maker's son, both plays and invents instruments. Searching for a new sound-softer than a trumpet, louder than a clarinet-Adolphe tinkers and reassembles until his masterpiece is ready. Belgium's arbiters reject the new instrument, and Adolphe moves to Paris. While French tastemakers initially pan it, the composer Hector Berlioz champions "le saxophon," opining, "It cries, sighs, and dreams." After hard-won integration into French military bands, other European nations adopt it, too. Napoleon III loses France's war in Mexico accompanied by the instrument's wails. Florencio Ramos, a musician in a Mexican cavalry band, obtains a sax and settles in New Orleans in 1884. The signature sound of the rechristened "saxophone" spreads there and beyond, inseparable from jazz's early permutations. (Cline-Ransome avers that after Sidney Bechet picks up the sax, he forsakes his clarinet.) A final spread summarizes jazz's singular predisposition to musical contagion: "Coleman Hawkins heard Sidney play. / And Lester Young heard Coleman play. / And Charlie Parker heard Lester play." While the anecdotal narrative adroitly portrays Sax's perseverance as an innovator, the segue to American jazz gets shorter shrift. Cline-Ransome admirably amends this: Endpapers, a jacket poster, and spot illustrations celebrate over 20 diverse saxophone greats. Rich, sepia-toned spreads showcase the saxophone's shining complexity.Engagingly links the jazz saxophone with its European roots. (Informational picture book. 4-8)