Try before you buy is strongly recommended
but to ensure satisfaction we are happy to accept returns within ten days of purchase.
Contact 01843 841501
In recent years the saxophone and woodwind market has been flooded with cheap poor quality instruments from Asia and Eastern Europe many with weak metal that bends, dents or breaks easily and is uneconomic to repair.
Some of the older second hand instruments if in good condition offer better value. I particularly like the older Buisson clarinets which were affordable instruments built to a standard rather than down to a price using ebony and nickel silver keywork that has usually lasted well. The early Artley and Emerson flutes can offer good value bearing in mind that they were made by specialist family businesses who only made flutes.
Artley USA Silver Plated Flute and Original Case (£155.00) - Model 21.01 serial no. 4428878. This flute is showroom clean and in pristine condition. The pads look so new that I would guess someone gave up on it soon after purchase. The flute comes with the original case and an Armstrong outer padded protector bag with zip pocket containing cleaning rod. Bargain price for an excellent as new flute.
Boosey & Hawkes 6 Keyed Bb Band Flute (£48.00) - This is something different. The Bb Band Flute is the principal instrument of the flute and drum bands popular in continental Europe particulary in Northern Ireland and especially Belfast. This is a nice example with German silver (nickel silver) mountings and keywork. It is marked Made for Boosey & Hawkes London. Length is around 16 inches (40 centimetres) so in size it is between a concert flute and a piccalo. An idiosyncracy of band flutes is that the key is defined by the D note on the instrument so Bb Band Flutes are actually in Ab concert.
Buisson Bb Boehm Clarinet Model 90 Serial 2288 (£139) with EZ tone Mouthpiece and Original Wooden Case - This is a wooden clarinet with a beautiful tone particularly in the bottom register. It comes with an EZ tone mouthpiece. The original mouthpiece is also included but I think the EZ tone sounds better. A replacement barrel is included as well as the original barrel which has two full length surface cracks although they do not affect the tone. The pads are sound. The high quality keywork is in great condition. The solid original case appears to be a black lacquered wood with padded satinish interior.
Advertised in the 1950's as the Elysee Buisson Clarinet Outfit this clarinet was built by Buisson Paris for sole distributors Dallas London the instruments were in selected Ebony with hand finished nicket silver keys - highly polished. Each instrument was tested and approved by Chick Milne "Star Performer". An ebony clarinet at a bargain price.
Buisson Bb Clarinet Model 99 /Serial 04730
with Vandoren 5RV Mouthpiece, Yamaha Case(£129.00) - . The clarinet is in great condition; pads are excellent suggesting it has had little use. It is Ebonite but much more solid than contemporary cheap Chinese resin and composition clarinets.
Buisson clarinets were very popular during the trad jazz boom and a testimony to their robust construction are still around. My first clarinet was a Buisson which I had for 15 years before swapping it for a vintage Louis clarinet, an early ebonite model which I still have and use for some trad gigs because of its singing tone. A classical recitalist might insist on a wooden clarinet as do some flautists who prefer wood to metal but ebonite has some great advantages. According to Geoff Sandall's book The Clarinet ebonite preserves the bore dimensions; it provides excellent seatings for key pads; it cannot crack and is completely impervious to moisture; and for tone is flexible and easy blowing. If you think about it the clarinet mouthpiece which produces the tone is invariably ebonite whether the body is wooden or ebonite.
Vintage Selmer "Sterling" Silver Metal Clarinet 1934 (£395.00) - Rare French made silver plated metal clarinet serviced in 2005. Original "sterling" mouthpiece, original case. Engraved "French Sterling Make - British Agent - Selmer London - Made in France, Serial 4346". In perfect playing order. A specialist collector's item.
The same 1930's model instrument sold for £570 plus £20 postage on E-Bay in July 2007.
Should be seen and tried out - available at Unison Music, Wincheap, Canterbury (contact Pete Rose).
NOTE: THIS INSTRUMENT IS UNDER OFFER FROM AN OVERSEAS BUYER WHO CANNOT INSPECT THE INSTRUMENT UNTIL SEPTEMBER.
To order telephone 01843 841501, e-mail dave@davecorsby.com
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Caught in the Act features Dave Corsby playing baritone and alto saxes and clarinet with a rhythm section of Dave Robinson vibes, Steve King bass and Phil Laslett drums.
Ghost Train to Dreamland (extract)
Second Thoughts features Dave Corsby playing flute, clarinet, saxes and piano with Dave Robinson playing vibes and percussion. Tracks Included: Ain't No Sunshine, Let's Stay Together, I Thought About You, Vino San Pablo, Time After Time, Night and Day, I'm Old Fashioned, Fantasy, Pie in the Sky. It Don't Mean a Thing, Misty. Fly Me to the Moon, Peanut Vendor, Work Song, Cinema Paradiso.
Vino San Pablo
Just the Two of Usfeatures Dave Robinson vibraphone and Dave Corsby saxes and woodwinds. It was produced for a series of craft fairs at Henley and Penshurst Place and comprises the duo’s most requested tunes.
Tracks included: Just the Two of Us; Baker Street; Cara's Kiss; Cute; Emily; Fluted Columns; Girl from Ipanema; Hello; Ladybird; Moanin; Stranger on the Shore; Wonderful Tonight.
Ladybird (extract)
A Tale of Two Cities A Jazz Suite by Dave Corsby
This Arts Council funded commission written for narrator and seven piece band has been performed on BBC and at Rochester and Broadstairs Dickens Festivals. On this version Dave Corsby plays all the instruments.
105 North Tower (extract)
Time & Tide is a collection of Dave Corsby Big Band arrangements and compositions played by a string orchestra. It includes an unusual orchestral version of Miles Davis Kind of Blue as well as the Time and Tide Suite commissioned for Canterbury’s Passing Tales 600th Chaucer Centenary.
Medway River Song (extract)
Dave Corsby Piano Solos is a collection of solo piano pieces ranging from jazz to classical.
Pennies from Heaven (extract)
Rollcall features Dave Corsby playing baritone and alto saxes and clarinet with a rhythm section of Jim Reid piano, Andy Wall bass and Les Feast drums.
Theme from the Endeavour Experience (extract)
Samuel Pepys Jazz Suite Two studio recorded seven piece band versions of the Samuel Pepys Suite plus a big band versionof the Subterraneans and the two big band arrangements of Round Midnight and Plenty Plenty Soul where Dave Corsby plays all the instruments (57 minutes).
