Soprano Saxophones

Gerry Labelle’s first musical instrument was the alto saxophone; later the tenor and soprano saxophone remained his main instruments, and he later played C Flute, piccolo & Alto flute. Gerry studied music with Frank Mella in Montreal, Canada.  He has traveled across Canada and the United States with a group called “Illustration”, and then moved on to jazz with the great piano player, Marius Cultier, and bassist, Alex Bernard, touring the west Indies mainly in Martinique & Guadeloupe. He returned to Montreal playing with drummer, Claude Ranger. This is when he met Elvin Jon

James Moody and his saxophone graced many NAMM Shows over the decades and was a good friend to many within the industry.  He was often seen strolling the show floor and encountering friends with a smile at nearly every step. It is easy to see why he was one of the most beloved jazz musicians in history. He created a unique tone and style of playing jazz, beginning in the Bebop era, inspiring generations of musicians. When the trumpeter Clark Terry was asked who Moody recorded with during his career, Clark replied with one word, “everyone.”  

José Nogueira was eight years old when his parents started a music business in Porto, Portugal. He took accordion lessons as a child as well as guitar and piano. In 1974, a group of friends formed a rock band combining elements of R&B and jazz, but they already had a piano player so one of José’s band-mates asked if he would play the saxophone instead. José took to the soprano saxophone and quickly discovered it was the perfect missing element of the band. The band, Jafumega, toured and recorded together until 2008 and is known as one of the founders of Portuguese Rock! He als

Wolfe Taninbaum was a leader in the development of synthetic reeds, although he is best known for his mouthpiece designs. The Taninbaum mouthpiece company was established in 1952 to provide a range of tones he was unable to find as a musician. He performed and recorded jazz and dance band music under the name Wolfe Tayne. He was hired by the CBS radio orchestra and followed that band to television in the early 1950s. When Wolfe established the Bari Company, he became a leader in plastic reeds and developed a noted soprano saxophone mouthpiece that remains one of the company’s bigg