A Saxophone Guild?

I was recently contacted by some business associates who were interested in forming an association which would bring together the many diverse factions of the saxophone world. Their pitch was that the saxophone has increased in popularity in recent years (true enough, the production numbers seem to bear that out) and that there is not an "umbrella" group which unites the various saxophone interest groups. They cited the National Flute Association (NFA) as a good example and potential model. Although I'm not so sure about this concept, it's probably worth consideration and discussion.

I've attended a number of NFA conventions, and I must admit that they deal with the diversity of the flute world pretty well. The flute community is as diverse (maybe more so) than the saxophone community, and every facet was well represented. There were seminars and recitals, panel discussions and exhibits. It was truly a wonderful experience, and any flute enthusiast, be they a jazzer or a classical player, would find plenty of interesting events.

There are several different organizations which address the needs of saxophonists, and at one time or another I've been a member of many of them and have attended quite a few of their conferences and conventions. My own interests are pretty diverse, so I left each event knowing that I had learned something. However, a jazz saxophonist would probably not appreciate the World Saxophone Congress or the North American Saxophone Alliance, both of which are heavily inclined toward the taste of classical academic types.

The now deceased International Association of Jazz Educators had pretty good seminars for jazz saxsophonists, and I am not aware that anyone has stepped up and filled that void. It probably could stand filling.

The repair community doesn't have any real representation. NAPBIRT is a joke, with no enforced standards. They admit anyone who has the ability to write a check, and have NEVER enforced their so called "code of ethics".There are a number of pretty good saxophone repair resources on the net, but no real organization. That's probably just as well, since organizing repair techs is about as easy as herding cats.

The manufacturing and retailing end of the saxophone business are pretty well represented by NAMM and a couple of other trade associations. I'm an enthusiastic member of NAMM, and salute them for the outstanding job they do in promoting the interests of the manufacturing and saxophone selling business.

I guess I'd be surprised if anything ever came of this proposal. I think the jazzers are suspicious of the classical guys, and the rockers don't like either group. The manufacturers and sellers are be adequately represented, and the technicians (and there really aren't many of them who are saxophone specific) probably have no interest.