MCPAC to bring "Saxophobia" to Superior on January 22
On Tues. Jan 22, Saxophobia will sweep Mineral County when Rob Verdi arrives to perform his saxophone concert.
The show starts at 7 pm at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Superior and is hosted by the Mineral County Performing Arts Council.
Saxophobia offers audiences a rare glimpse at some of the most unusual saxophones ever made and pays tribute to some of the great jazz legends who contributed to the development of jazz and popularity of the sax.
Accompanied by piano, bass, and drums, and featuring Verdi on sax, the presentation explores over a half century of classic jazz melodies. Over 10 different instruments will be featured including a tiny curved sopranino, slide sax, connosax, plastic alto, straight tenor, and even a 6 1/2’ tall contrabass saxophone.
Add a bit of Yakety Sax, Tequila, and Pink Panther just for fun and you’ve got an educational and entertaining performance, which tells you everything you wanted to know about sax, but were afraid to ask.
Back in the early 1920’s, Vaudeville shows were the hot ticket and the saxophone was king. Over 100,000 saxophones were being sold each year and instrument manufacturers were conjuring up some extraordinary variations on Adolphe Sax’s 1847 invention.
Today, over one hundred and fifty years after its birth, the saxophone remains a strong force in many styles of music. Saxophobia presents an entertaining, rich and riveting historical history of the saxophone and the players who gave the sax its many voices.
Saxophobia offers a rare glimpse at some of the most unusual saxophones ever made and pays tribute to the great jazz legends who popularized the instrument.
The show was conceived by Rob Verdi’s love for the sax and his passion for sharing his musical instrument collection with audiences.
Verdi received his Music Education Degree in 1984 from Arizona State University in Tempe. While in Arizona, Mr. Verdi was a featuring soloist with the Phoenix Symphony, performed in a variety of musical ensembles, and enjoyed the challenge of teaching junior high music. In 1983 he helped form the Side Street Strutters Jazz Band, which went on to become the house jazz band of the Disneyland Resort for 22 years. Rob continues to be a regular performer at Disneyland, conducts jazz workshops for the Disney Magic Music Days Guest Talent program, and participates in a variety of musical ensembles and projects in the Los Angeles area
His passion for collecting saxophones has resulted in a collection of over 100 saxes and an additional 150 rare wind, brass, and percussion instruments. Mr. Verdi hopes to some day establish a musical instrument museum where visitors of all ages can see, hear, and even play some of these rare instruments.