Clyde Doerr

More than one genre of music was responsible for making the saxophone one of the most popular instruments in America, a fact that the fans of jazz heavyweights often overlook. Clyde Doerr's tireless performing in the '20s, live as well as on radio and records, was a gush of hot water into the relaxing bath of popular music associated with this family of instruments. Coldwater was the name of the town he grew up in, appropriately located in Michigan. The musical Doerr opened with violin at the age of eight but he switched to saxophone in high school. The stimulus was, as would be the case with many a budding reedman, seeing someone else playing the instrument live. In Doerr's case this was a sax soloist in a minstrel show. He began working professionally in a Detroit dance band, then continued his formal studies on violin at King Conservatory in San Jose. He was soon written up in Metronome for his work conducting a 32-piece ensemble. His was a career that lurched between academia and the swinging night life, a bit like a cable car going up and down a steep hill in Doerr's new home of San Francisco. His Bachelor of Music degree and violin were collecting dust by 1919 while he blew saxophone in a combo at Techau's Tavern. This was where the superb bandleader Art Hickman heard Doerr one night, leading to an invitation to join Hickman's outfit. Doerr met Bert Ralton in this band and the two playing partners established an historic saxophone section. Hickman took the group to New York City after conquering the Bay Area music scene. The Biltmore Hotel was happy to host this ensemble phenomenon and recording began at Columbia; the team of Doerr and Ralton are featured on sides such as the repetitive "Dance It Again with Me" and the attractive "Rose of Mandalay." "I wasn't...