The hot fountain pen, or red-hot fountain pen, is a small keyless single-reed woodwind instrument similar to a xaphoon, popularised in the 1920s and 30s by jazz saxophonist Adrian Rollini.[1] It was first introduced in jazz band The California Ramblers by saxophonist Jimmy Dorsey in the mid-1920s, where Rollini, a fellow band member, encountered and adopted it.[2] Rollini, who introduced several other instruments to jazz including the bass saxophone, couesnophone ("goofus") and vibraphone, named it from his friendship with Neil Waterman, a musician from the wealthy New York family that owned the Waterman Pen Company.[3]
| Woodwind instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 422.211.2 (Single reed with cylindrical bore and fingerholes) |
| Developed | 1920s |
| Related instruments | |
| Musicians | |
| |
| Builders | |
| Keith Prowse & Co. | |
The instrument Rollini performed on was pitched in E♭ and about 27 centimetres (10½ inches) in length. He made at least two models for sale, in original E♭ and a larger model in C.[4] These were made in ebonite by London instrument manufacturer Keith, Prowse & Co. and first advertised c. 1928 in British Melody Maker magazine.[5]
Only a small number of instruments were made up until the mid-20th century, featuring mainly on recordings by Rollini and jazz violinist Joe Venuti. Its only other significant proponent was English musician Laurie Payne.[6] In museums, one instrument survives in the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, Oxford.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Hot fountain pen". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. 2003. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J208600. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
- ^ van Delden 2020, p. 120.
- ^ van Delden 2020, p. 168-169.
- ^ van Delden 2020, p. 426.
- ^ Maund, Ian (2009). "Pocket cornets, goofus, and hot fountain pens". Sandy Brown Jazz. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ Porter, Lewis (2003). "Clarinet (jazz) §5. Other clarinets". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J088700. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
- ^ Keith Prowse (2014) [built mid-20th century]. "Red-hot fountain pen". Bate Collection of Musical Instruments. University of Oxford. Accession: x4014. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
Bibliography
edit- van Delden, Ate (2020). Adrian Rollini: The life and music of a jazz rambler. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-496-82515-5. LCCN 2019021692. OCLC 1126216273. Wikidata Q130746122.
External links
edit- Joe Venuti's Blue Four: "Put And Take" (1930) features Adrian Rollini on hot fountain pen and bass saxophone (via YouTube)