Can you believe this guy’s tone?!? Here’s Earl Bostic playing the song “Flamingo”….that’s not Tenor he’s playing on, it’s the Alto! I had to do some google research to confirm that, it sounds like he’s on Tenor, but he’s not. He’s playing on the Alto. I don’t know if there’s anyone even to this day that has a tone like this on the Alto. I think this song would make a fabulous Sax cover.
Ya Michael, i just discovered this song recently too, that is after a guitarist mate i know has learnt to cover it in original key of F (G for us tenors) in a band he’s in [with a coronet player]. He said to me, hey man do you know any Earl Bostic? i said for sure mate he’s one of the original honkers and screamers and i learnt about him on a hot sax site 🙂 (he’s in @Johnny ‘s Premium section).
Likewise, i think this song would make a fabulous Sax cover.
Interesting it’s played on alto with a tenor reed. Apparently he used a high baffle metal Beechler mouthpiece with a tenor saxophone reed on his Martin Committee model alto sax.
Passed on October 28 1965, aged 52 being on stage with his band in Rochester New York from a heart attack ~ RIP
.
