Rudy Weidoeft

Who was Rudy Weidoeft?

Rudolph "Rudy" Cornelius Wiedoeft was a U.S. saxophonist.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of German immigrants, at a young age Wiedoeft started playing with his family orchestra, first on violin, then on clarinet. He moved to New York City and switched to saxophone, then still an unusual instrument. He became known as a virtuoso saxophonist in the 1910s, made more than 300 recordings for many different record labels, and did much to popularize the saxophone as an instrument in both the U.S. and overseas. His chief instrument was the C melody saxophone, a variety which was immensely popular from the 1910s until the U.S. stock market crash of October 1929. He also played and recorded a little on the E-flat alto and B-flat soprano as well.

His style was noted for very rapid runs of well articulated notes in between long lush legato phrases in a ragtime influenced style. The rapidly articulated notes were made possible by the advanced techniques of double-tonguing and triple-tonguing, similar to those used by brass players and flutists. He was also known for his style of vibrato, which was very wide in the later years of his playing. It is worth noting that in his earlier years, Wiedoeft's use of vibrato was quite spare and rather narrow. Wiedoeft employed several other 'sound effects,' such as slap tonguing and "laughing" through his horn, and alongside his very distinguishable vibrato, became a part of his musical arsenal to use at his disposal. While he incorporated some elements of early jazz into his playing, he remained stylistically a pre-jazz artist. Some of his original compositions were hits in their day, notably Valse Erica, Valse Llewellyn, Saxema, Saxophobia, and Sax-o-Phun.