THANK YOU, RUDY MÜCK It was that feeling of overwhelming excitement that seems to belong only to kids, an anticipation so intense that time itself becomes an unbearable obstacle keeping you from the moment you crave. You don’t see how you can possibly wait for it to arrive. But it finally did. It was Mr. Rudy Mück himself ringing the doorbell, and when I saw it I recognized it immediately. The grey, zippered casenot an ordinary case with a latch, but a zipper encompassing three sideswith its rounded, streamlined corners and it’s exterior of a then-new space-age plastic (the kind that today makes a Honda’s interior look more luxurious than Corinthian leather)the case itself announced that there was something of rare value inside. Mr. Mück hadn’t been sure when it would arrive, intensifying my torture, because it was coming all the way from Paris, France! Maybe he took the time to deliver it personally from his shop because he knew the suffering of waiting, or perhaps because he understood that what was inside would seriously change my life. As I stood watching, he placed the case gently on a coffee table and eased the zipper around its perimeter. And then he opened the case. What was inside exceeded even what the package had promised. I stared mesmerized, marveling at the warm golden color of the metal, the iridescent pearls, the sinuous shape, and the elaborate S engraved on top of the neckjust like the one Superman wore proudly on his chest. Only after years of practice and frustration would I finally experience that this curved piece of metal is indeed more powerful than a locomotive. I was eleven that day, and looking back, it was probably the day childhood ended. Childhood is a time of toys, but holding an instrument of such possibility and power put an end to childish play, and started the very serious business of playing music. My Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone and I have been together ever since, and we’ve ventured down many roads I would never have traveled by myself. We headed for Bloomington, Indiana in the 70’s to study classical saxophone with virtuoso Eugene Rousseau, then played with soul singer Billy Wells' Outer Realm in Connecticut, and ended the decade on Long Island playing and recording with reggae singer Kwame. In the 80’s, I joined the group ‘Round Midnight with singer/pianist Linda Cusumano and guitarist John Calisto, spending summers playing jazz in the Hamptons, dance grooves in Montauk, and weddings in Huntington. I was also in the studio doing all kinds of sessionsfor producers ranging from Grammy winner Arif Mardin to elevator-impresario Muzak (Hey Tom, you still owe me a buck and a half for that last session!). The 90’s brought us to Lancaster and a faculty position at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, as well as working with Linda C. on her debut album. Then in ’03, Linda and I recorded our duo album, Christmas. And the Mark VI was with me for all of it, the only thing I can think of that I still have from childhood. It’s mostly been a long, hard struggle trying to master the instrument and the music. But even though the zippered case has been replaced a few times since then, the road has confirmed what it proclaimed when Rudy Mück first carried it to my front door. This sharp, powerful ax is truly an instrument of gravitas. Stan