Police responded July 27 to a residence on Upper Shad Road following a complaint of multiple people “sounding” a large horn. The resident apologized for the noise and said he and a friend were testing and repairing a musical instrument and would try to be more quiet.
She’d suffered through the squeaking, squawking, blood curdling sounds of his practice for years. She remembered when he first took up the horn — it was just after the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers when all of a sudden people were knitting, painting watercolors, learning a new language, anything to calm their nerves. It was her misfortune that her neighbor, who up to this point had been a blur, was suddenly front and center in her universe having decided to re-connect with his long-lost love, the saxophone. Worse still, he only played avant-garde jazz, possibly her least favorite music in the world besides rap.
Over the years, twenty-four to be exact, his playing had developed and he’d become a solid member of jazz trios and quartets. It seemed to her ears he was always practicing. This particular evening the sounds coming from his unit were identical to the caterwauling of a dying cat or a starving hyena or a coyote with its leg caught in a trap. The sounds alternated between a low grating and a piercingly high pitched wail. It couldn’t be music, she didn’t think, but what did she know? Either way, it was driving her bonkers, enough to call the cops.
She picked up her phone and punched in 911. “Someone or something is being injured or tortured in the apartment next door,” she told dispatch. “It sounds awful. Please be quick.”
The saxophone player was sheepish when police arrived at his door. “It’s a new horn,” he said. “I’m a professional musician.” The officer observed multiple instruments in the living room; a tenor sax, an alto sax, a soprano sax, a bass clarinet and a flute.
“Nice,” the officer said. “I play the accordion myself. “ He advised the musician who said he was practicing high harmonics and overtones to keep it down, if that was even possible.
No further action was taken at this time.