In sixth grade, I joined Krueger middle school band and learned to play clarinet. In 7th grade, I joined jazz\u00a0and added tenor sax. In 8th grade, I learned flute so I could double in jazz band.<\/p>\n
My parents bought me the tenor, a Selmer Mark VII, from my dad’s (now late) high school friend, Pete Portillo, on San Antonio’s west side, not far\u00a0from Grandma and Grandpa’s house in the summer of 1981. After middle school, I played in high school jazz band(but I don’t think all four years), and took it to college where I continued to play jazz until I graduated MIT in 1990.<\/p>\n
Fast forward 26 years to this spring, when our new\u00a0church pastor, myself and several others played and sung a jazz mass, which I really enjoyed. But it was clear then that this sax needed an overhaul, and I finally\u00a0took the plunge this summer and had it done\u00a0by Ken Cameron, owner of Cameron’s Music:<\/p>\n