When you first come across the name of a certain Bay Area duo, you may have some understandable misassumptions. But despite their handle, The Saxophones actually only has one woodwind player in their roster (who typically prefers guitar or synthesizer), and tends to steer towards folk, dream pop, and surf over jazz, while steering clear of other “sax-centric” genres like funk and ska.
The title came half-jokingly from Alexi Erenkov, when he was still a despondent jazz student looking for better avenues of self-expression. Erenkov’s partner in marriage, parenthood, and songwriting soon joined as a percussionist and The Saxophones then began developing a Martin Denny-meets-Dave Brubeck-meets-Le Orme sound on their shared houseboat. Mixed by Devendra Banhart engineer Noah Georgeson, the two-piece’s upcoming sophomore album, Eternity Bay, is an analog double 8-track offering steeped in drama, romance, reflection, anxiety and overall maturity. Eternity Bay is out on March 6th, and you can soak up your reed with The Saxophones surf rock style with their latest – “Lamplighter”!
–Jack Anderson
Photo: Conner Sorensen
