Jean Toussaint

How often do writers tell the tale of nearly missing something good? Typically, they conduct a lengthy interview then, as the conversation ends, when the recorder is about to be switched off, some vital fact is revealed, some juicy piece of news is shared. That's how it was when I met Jean Toussaint.

The American saxophonist has lived in Britain since 1987. At the moment he teaches for one day each week at Birmingham Conservatoire. So we agreed to meet there for a chat an hour before he began work. I spotted him in a nearby shopping precinct, a few minutes prior to the agreed time. Toussaint stands out in a crowd. He's tall and good looking, but of course it was the shaped tenor saxophone case over his shoulder that was the giveaway. We compared journeys, and then found somewhere quiet to set up my cassette player.

Toussaint chatted informatively about growing up in St Thomas in the Virgin Islands (part of the USA, close to Puerto Rico). He detailed how he went to high school there, then how he went to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. At Berklee his saxophone teacher was Billy Pierce. Fellow students included saxophonists Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby and drummer Jeff Tain Watts. Toussaint then followed Pierce into Art Blakey's band, where he remained for four years from 1982 to 1986. In reply to my question about why he quit Blakey he said: "Well, you think it's time. [Trumpeter] Terence Blanchard had left, [saxophonist] Donald Harrison had left, and [pianist] Mulgrew Miller had left. You feel when it's time for you to go."

Then came the surprise. Only after I had asked why he eventually left Blakey (a plum jazz job if ever there was one) did Toussaint make the revelation about his embouchure.

"At that time I had gone through a drastic embouchure change. I was playing single embouchure, teeth on the mouthpiece, in the beginning. Initially I was taught the double embouchure by my teacher, because he used to be a clarinet player. The double embouchure is an old clarinet embouchure. That's what he used to play. So he taught saxophone players the double embouchure. When I got to Berklee they made me change it. I had to play single. But I was using way too much pressure, so I was really hurting myself, biting way too much, with too much jaw pressure. I hadn't developed the lip muscles. Donald Harrison and Branford Marsalis both played double embouchure, because they'd studied with [clarinettist] Alvin Baptiste in New Orleans. I said, 'But that's how I used to play!'

Obviously my sound wasn't developed. At Berklee they thought, 'Okay, we'll move you to single.' It worked for a while but I was using too much pressure. "So, in my last year in Art's band I tried to change back to double embouchure. I did it dogmatically. It sounded terrible for a while. I said, 'I'm going to change. Bear with it, suffer it for a while.' I kept going at it. I said: 'I have to do this. I have to do this. I have to get it right.' It came to a point where I said, 'Well, I'd better step off, and hook this up.' I'd gotten enough experience anyway. And it's the best thing I did.

"Coltrane played double lip as well. Did you know that? Because he had problems with his teeth. He loved sweets, and got a lot of cavities. I think the double embouchure is why his sound is so unique. I was able to project my sound, as a result of playing for years with Art Blakey, who had a foot like thunder! After I really got into the double lip, and started doing my exercises, I found that my sound was even better. The projection was enhanced."

How does he view teaching it?
"The way I teach it is that the double lip is not better, it's just another option. You have a lot of great saxophonists; Dexter Gordon, he had a huge sound, Sonny Rollins, incredible sound. Both played single lip. So it's just an alternative. It's not one or the other.
If someone is doing the single lip embouchure in the proper way, without putting too much pressure on it -which is the way to do it - then I leave well alone. Some people play with the bottom lip just pushed out, without the teeth supporting it. I find that very difficult." Inevitably, we talk about instruments.
"I play on a Selmer Reference 54. They are new horns, and I'm very pleased with them. Selmer have taken the best of the Mark VI and put it with today's technology. The sound of the Mark V1 is brilliant. Maybe the metal that they used back then was different. I think that sound and projection can be acquired with the Reference 54, too, once you've broken it in. The intonation of the Reference is phenomenal."

And the mouthpiece?
"I'm using a Vandoren V16. It's similar to an Otto Link, but I prefer the Vandoren. Unlike some other mouthpieces, the face on which the reed lies is completely smooth; this produces a more effective sound."

Doubling?
"I play soprano, a Selmer Super 80 Series Two. I'm pleased with it, but I'd like to try one of the new ones, the Series Three. I heard that they are making the Reference 54 soprano as well. I can't wait for that to come out."

Does he play flute or clarinet?
"I did play flute a long time ago. And I always feel regret that I've never played clarinet. I didn't start on clarinet like most people did. Most of the people I came up with started on clarinet. The thing is, I love the bass clarinet, but because I can't play clarinet…" Future projects involve Toussaint's quartet in London, with young drummer Troy Miller. The pianist is Andrew McCormack.

"I met him, when he was fifteen or something, says Toussaint. "A whiz kid, he eventually went to the Guildhall. He's doing pretty well; he's about to release his own album. The bassist is Larry Bartley. Our last project was Live in Paris, for a French label called Space Time Records. It should be coming out this fall."

Blue Black. Jean Toussaint. Space Time Records. BG 2218