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The bass saxophone is the third lowest member of the saxophone family—larger and lower than the more common baritone saxophone. It was likely the first type of saxophone built by Adolphe Sax, as first observed by Hector Berlioz in 1842. It is a transposing instrument pitched in B, an octave below the tenor saxophone and a perfect fourth below the baritone saxophone. A bass saxophone in C, intended for orchestral use, was included in Adolphe Sax's patent, but few known examples were built. The bass saxophone is not a commonly used instrument, but it is heard on some 1920s jazz recordings, in free jazz, in Saxophone choir and sextets, and occasionally in and rock music.
Music for bass saxophone is written in treble clef, just as for the other saxophones, with the pitches sounding two and a major second lower than written. As with most other members of the saxophone family, the lowest written note is the B below the staff—in the bass's case, sounding as a concert A1.
The German wind instrument maker Benedikt Eppelsheim and the Brazilian saxophone maker J'Élle Stainer have both made bass saxophones with an additional low A key, similar to the low A key on the baritone saxophone. On the bass, this extends the range down a semitone to concert G1 (~49 Hz). Most basses made before the 1980s were keyed to high E, but most new models are keyed to high F., New York)]]
American bandleader Boyd Raeburn (1913–1966) led an avant-garde big band in the 1940s and sometimes played the bass saxophone. In Britain, Oscar Rabin played it in his own band. Harry Gold, a member of Rabin's band, played bass saxophone in his own band, Pieces of Eight. American bandleader Stan Kenton's Mellophonium Band (1960–1963) featured fourteen brass players and used a saxophone section of one alto, two tenors, baritone, and bass on many Grammy winning compositions by Johnny Richards (with Joel Kaye doubling baritone and bass saxophones). The Lawrence Welk Band featured Bill Page soloing on bass saxophone on several broadcasts during the 1960s. Shorty Rogers's Swingin' Nutcracker (recorded for RCA Victor in 1960) featured a bass saxophone (played by Bill Hood) on four of the movements.
One notable bass saxophonist performing today in the 1920s–1930s style is Vince Giordano. Jazz players using the instrument in a more contemporary style include Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Peter Brötzmann, J. D. Parran, Hamiet Bluiett, James Carter, Stefan Zeniuk, Michael Marcus, Vinny Golia, Joseph Jarman, Brian Landrus, Urs Leimgruber, and Scott Robinson, although none of these players use it as their primary instrument.
Jan Garbarek plays a bass sax on the 1973 album Red Lanta.
It is rarely used in orchestral music, though several examples exist. The earliest extant orchestral work to employ it is William Henry Fry's "sacred symphony" Hagar In the Wilderness (1853), which also calls for soprano saxophone and was written for Louis-Antoine Jullien's orchestra during its American tour. Richard Strauss, in his Sinfonia Domestica (1904), wrote four saxophone parts including one for bass saxophone in C. Arnold Schoenberg wrote for the bass saxophone in his one-act opera Von heute auf morgen (1929), and Karlheinz Stockhausen includes a part for it in the saxophone section of Lucifer's Dance, the third scene of his opera, Samstag aus Licht (1983).
In the 1950s and 1960s it enjoyed a brief vogue in orchestrations for musical theatre. The orchestras for Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend (1953) and Meredith Willson’s Music Man (1957) included bass saxophone, as did Leonard Bernstein’s original score for the 1957 première of West Side Story.
The bass saxophone is occasionally called for in , typically in arrangements from before 1950. Australian composer Percy Grainger and American composer Warren Benson are particularly notable composers who wrote for it.
In chamber music, the bass saxophone can appear in saxophone ensembles, especially larger saxophone choirs. The saxophone is rarely used in small mixed chamber groups; the bass saxophone can be used play parts intended for other instruments.
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