The Melody Sax Mulo Francel

• 1Close Your Eyes04:39
• 2Out of Nowhere04:37
• 3Body and Soul05:18
• 4I've Found a New Baby04:07
• 5After You've Gone05:22
• 6Summertime05:34
• 7Stardust04:50
• 8Bye Bye Blackbird04:52
• 9S'wonderful05:22
• 10Love Theme from Charlie Chaplin's "Goldrush"04:18
• 11Singin' the Blues02:44
• 12The Man I Love07:34
• 13Out of Nowhere (Iceland Vulcano Soundtrack)02:36
• Total Runtime01:01:53

Info for The Melody Sax

A tribute to his 1923 C-melody saxophone and the instrument’s remarkable history on its 100th birthday, international saxophone phenomenon Mulo Francel presents ‘The Melody Sax’, set to release on April 28th on GLM Records.

Best known for his work with critically-acclaimed quartet Quadro Nuevo, Francel’s beloved instrument was widely used in the popular music of the 1920s and suddenly disappeared forever…

Characterized by a frivolous sound, and an almost circus-like positive timbre, the advantage of this saxophone variant was that many amateurs who played other instruments in C tuning (piano, flute, violin, organ …) could now simply use their old sheet music for the saxophone, which had become fashionable.

With the onset of the Great Depression, the popularity of the melody sax ebbed rapidly. Private individuals no longer had the money to afford this luxury item, and professional musicians and serious music students had no use for the hobby instruments. They were no longer produced after 1936.

Francel purchased his at a New York flea market for 125 dollars, and has proudly championed it on many of his recordings since 1997. Fascinated by the music of the roaring 20’s Francel felt moved to capture the smile of the music of the era and adapt it to a modern context.

The album’s 13 tracks are sure to contain a number of familiar songs to any jazz fan, presented in refreshingly modern contexts with creative arrangements that transform even the most overplayed standards into exciting and original. With grooves taken from bossa nova, R’n’B, soul, swing, and beyond, inventive countermelodies, the rich sound of a fender rhodes, and the trademark tone of Francel’s historic saxophone come together into a cohesive musical reflection on the intimate relationship between a musician and their instrument.

Mulo Francel, C-melody saxophone
Chris Gall, Fender Rhodes
Philipp Schiepek, guitar
Didi Lowka, bass
Sebastian Wolfgruber, drums
Andreas Hinterseher, bandoneon (track 1) & trumpet (track 13)

Mulo Francel
(born 1967 in Munich) is a saxophonist and globetrotter. Also known as the creative whirlwind of the ensemble Quadro Nuevo. He toured to the farthest corners of the world. From Bavaria to the Balkans to Bolivia and Buenos Aires.

He studied saxophone, clarinet and composition in Munich (Germany), Linz (Austria) and New York.

Over the years Mulo Francel developed his very own authentic version of World Music. He has given more than 4000 concerts around the globe, has received numerous prizes such as the European Impala, the ECHO Jazz for Best Live Act and the Gold Award for the Quadro Nuevo album Mocca Flor.

The Kulturnews magazine credits him with the “most sensuous saxophone sound in Europe”.

The saxophonist released over 40 albums.

Mulo Francel’s saxophone tells stories. Wide-stretched melody lines give an idea of how broad-minded extravagance can override the small-scale limits of the earthly.

This album contains no booklet.