Howdy! Through an unexpected series of events, I came into possession of a Selmer Paris Supreme alto saxophone for a few days and was given carte-blanche to test it. So, as a followup to my initial thoughts blogpost, here is my hands-on first impressions! In this video, I directly compare the Supreme to my usual Series III and discuss the tone, potential for jazz, intonation, ergonomics, and more. I thoroughly enjoyed my brief time with the Supreme alto, and I could see myself considering it if I could not directly replace my Series III. In the meantime, I am very tempted to pick up a Supreme neck for my Series III, as I found it to bring some intonation improvements and make the sound very slightly warmer and more homogenous. If you have any questions that I did not address in the video, please leave a comment!
TLDW: An appealing sound that combines the more laidback and warm tones of older Selmer horns with the immediate response and ease of the Series III. Small intonation improvements mostly attributed to the neck. Mostly good ergonomic changes, with the exception of the round pearl chromatic F# key and the LH palm keys feeling slightly more spread than I prefer.
A note on representation and sexism: On a more depressing note, Selmer Paris continues to be woefully tonedeaf in their marketing of this instrument to a male audience. See the recent kerfuffle surrounding their marketing of various finishes “to suit him.” Major kudos are owed to great saxophonists and teachers Sarah Roberts and Ellie Parker for speaking truth to power on public forum and rejuvenating this discussion. The company have since updated the post and attributed the exclusive gendered language as an “unintentional translation error,” but I nonetheless believe that these convenient mistakes are a result of the blind spot in perspective within Selmer Paris’ development and marketing organization. For a company that positions itself as a global brand for musicians everywhere, this is a pretty egregious oversight and seems to be a holdover from “old-world” thinking.
Selmer, please listen to, acknowledge, include, and feature the women, non-binary, IPOC, LGBTQ+, and other players who want to love your horns. Your products will only be made more rich for your conscious efforts towards embracing inclusivity. Do better.