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Otto Link.
History and models.
(1920 -1977)
Under construction
Otto Link.
"Master Link"
( New York 1920 - 1935 )
*This is the very first mouthpiece produced by Otto Link from 1920 to 1935.
*It has a very big chamber.
*This mouthpiece was available for soprano, alto, C melody, tenor and baritone saxophones.
* 4 tip opening was available: 2- 3 - 4 -5.
* The very first model, until 1930, was supplied with a special slide ligature later replaced by a more conventional model.
* From 1934 three Special facings were available upon request:
- H.S Hawkins Special facing
- G.A Georgie Auld facing
- Vido Musso Special facing
See also Master link mouthpieces serial number below:
See also special Master link mouthpieces below:
Otto Link.
"Hawkins Special"
Master Link model.
( New York 1934 > 1935 )
Below and to the right : the rare Coleman Hawkins Master Link alto model.
Below:
Melody Maker of April 1934. Coleman Hawkins about mouthpiece.
Otto Link New York:
"G.A" Georgie Auld facing.
Master Link Model.
(30's)
tenor sax only
Georgie Auld (May 19, 1919 – January 8, 1990) was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader.
Auld was born in Toronto, but lived in the United States from the late 1920s onward, and was most noteworthy for his work withBunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Porcino, Billy Eckstine, Tiny Kahn, Frank Rosolino, and many others. Primarily a swing saxophonist, he did many big band stints in his career, and led several big bands, including Georgie Auld and His Orchestra and Georgie Auld and His Hollywood All Stars. He recorded the music for Alfred Hitchcock's movie picture "To catch a thief " in 1955. Auld also played some rock´n roll working for Alan Freed in 1959. He can be heard playing sax on the Ella Fitzgerald recording "Thirty by Ella". In 1977 he played a bandleader in New York, New York, starring Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro and also acted as a technical consultant for the film.He died in Palm Springs, California, aged 71.
G.Auld played the Otto Link Master Link mouthpiece with a Selmer Radio Improved tenor sax then later on a Conn tenor sax, he switched later to an Improved Tone Master, then a metal Berg Larsen mouthpiece and a King Super 20 tenor sax.
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Below: Georgie Auld with his Conn tenor sax and Otto Link Master Link mouthpiece. (1945)
Otto Link New York :
"Vido Musso "
Master link model,
(up to 1935) ( tenor sax only)
Vido William Musso (7 January 1913 - 9 January 1982).
A thick-toned tenor-saxophonist whose spirited and enthusiastic solos helped compensate for his weak music reading skills, Vido Musso was popular for a period in the 1940's. His family moved to the United States in 1920, settling in Detroit. Musso first played clarinet before switching to tenor. He moved to Los Angeles in 1930, began an association with Stan Kenton and the two were sidemen in several of the same local bands. Musso and Kenton briefly had a big band in 1936 but then the tenor-saxophonist was discovered and became a bit of a name playing with Benny Goodman's Orchestra (1936-37). After a period with Gene Krupa's new band (1938), Musso rejoined Goodman a couple times (1939 and 1941-42). He also had stints withHarry James (1940-41), Woody Herman (1942-43) and Tommy Dorsey (1945) between attempts to lead his own big band (none of which succeeded).Vido Musso was at the peak of his fame during his two periods with Stan Kenton (1945-46 and 1947), particularly for his emotional rendition of "Come Back To Sorrento." He eventually moved back to Los Angeles, played locally and, starting in 1957, worked regularly in Las Vegas. All of Vido Musso's recording dates as a leader are somewhat obscure. There was a four-song Savoy session in 1946, eight boppish titles in 1947 for Trilon and other dates for Arco, Fantasy (three songs in 1952) and RPM plus two albums for Crown and Modern (1954-55). ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
Otto Link New York:
"HS " "Hawkins Special"
Four Star model.
( 1935 > 1940 )
Otto Link New York:
" Vido Musso "
Four Star model (tenor sax)
(1935>1940)
Vido William Musso (7 January 1913 - 9 January 1982).
A thick-toned tenor-saxophonist whose spirited and enthusiastic solos helped compensate for his weak music reading skills, Vido Musso was popular for a period in the 1940's. His family moved to the United States in 1920, settling in Detroit. Musso first played clarinet before switching to tenor. He moved to Los Angeles in 1930, began an association with Stan Kenton and the two were sidemen in several of the same local bands. Musso and Kenton briefly had a big band in 1936 but then the tenor-saxophonist was discovered and became a bit of a name playing with Benny Goodman's Orchestra (1936-37). After a period with Gene Krupa's new band (1938), Musso rejoined Goodman a couple times (1939 and 1941-42). He also had stints with Harry James (1940-41), Woody Herman (1942-43) and Tommy Dorsey (1945) between attempts to lead his own big band (none of which succeeded).Vido Musso was at the peak of his fame during his two periods with Stan Kenton (1945-46 and 1947), particularly for his emotional rendition of "Come Back To Sorrento." He eventually moved back to Los Angeles, played locally and, starting in 1957, worked regularly in Las Vegas. All of Vido Musso's recording dates as a leader are somewhat obscure. There was a four-song Savoy session in 1946, eight boppish titles in 1947 for Trilon and other dates for Arco, Fantasy (three songs in 1952) and RPM plus two albums for Crown and Modern (1954-55). ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
The Otto LinkFour star Vido Musso facing was listed as a 5 facing in the "Four Star" era but it seems that he changed later for a more open tip as an Otto Link brochure from 1940 list his mouthpiece as a Tone Master "Hawkins Special (0,78"tip opening).
Otto Link New York .
" HS " "Hawkins Special"
Tone master model
(1940 > April 1946)
Otto Link New York:
" J.A" Joe Allard Tone Master model.
Alto, tenor.
(1940 > April 1946)
Joseph Allard (December 31, 1910 – May 3, 1991), a native of Lowell, MA, was a professor of saxophone and clarinet at the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music, as well as adjunct positions at many other schools. He succeeded saxophonist/clarinetist Vincent J. Abato at Juilliard and was the saxophone instructor there from the 1956-57 school year until the end of the 1983–84 year. He was the first saxophonist with the NBC staff orchestra in New York City. He played the "Firestone Hour" and "Bell Telephone Hour" on TV and radio, as well as bass clarinet in the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini from 1949-54. He played with Red Nichols and the Five Pennies, and for a brief period played with Red Norvo's orchestra.
Among his famous students are Michael Brecker, Eddie Daniels, Bob Berg, Dave Tofani, Dave Liebman, Paul Winter, Victor Morosco, Eric Dolphy, Harvey Pittel, Col Loughnan and Kenneth Radnofsky. Joseph was the coach for the saxophone section in Glenn Miller's Orchestra as well as Benny Goodman's Orchestra.
Joseph studied clarinet under Gaston Hamelin of the Boston Symphony and saxophone under Lyle Bowen.
Otto Link New York: " Joe Allard " Reso Chamber model.
Alto, tenor and clarinet
(1940 > April 1946)
Joseph Allard (December 31, 1910 – May 3, 1991), a native of Lowell, MA, was a professor of saxophone and clarinet at the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music, as well as adjunct positions at many other schools. He succeeded saxophonist/clarinetist Vincent J. Abato at Juilliard and was the saxophone instructor there from the 1956-57 school year until the end of the 1983–84 year. He was the first saxophonist with the NBC staff orchestra in New York City. He played the "Firestone Hour" and "Bell Telephone Hour" on TV and radio, as well as bass clarinet in the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini from 1949-54. He played with Red Nichols and the Five Pennies, and for a brief period played with Red Norvo's orchestra.
Among his famous students are Michael Brecker, Eddie Daniels, Bob Berg, Dave Tofani, Dave Liebman, Paul Winter, Victor Morosco, Eric Dolphy, Harvey Pittel, Col Loughnan and Kenneth Radnofsky. Joseph was the coach for the saxophone section in Glenn Miller's Orchestra as well as Benny Goodman's Orchestra.
Joseph studied clarinet under Gaston Hamelin of the Boston Symphony and saxophone under Lyle Bowen.
See the web site Joe Allard Project : http://www.joeallard.org/
Above and below: Tenor " Joe Allard " Reso Chamber model
Below: Joe Allard in 1940.
below: " Joe Allard " Reso Chamber Bb clarinet model
Otto Link New York:
"G.A"
Georgie Auld
Improved Tone Master Model
(April 1946> October1949)
Tenor sax only
Georgie Auld (May 19, 1919 – January 8, 1990) was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and bandleader.
Auld was born in Toronto, but lived in the United States from the late 1920s onward, and was most noteworthy for his work withBunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Porcino, Billy Eckstine, Tiny Kahn, Frank Rosolino, and many others. Primarily a swing saxophonist, he did many big band stints in his career, and led several big bands, including Georgie Auld and His Orchestra and Georgie Auld and His Hollywood All Stars. He recorded the music for Alfred Hitchcock's movie picture "To catch a thief " in 1955. Auld also played some rock´n roll working for Alan Freed in 1959. He can be heard playing sax on the Ella Fitzgerald recording "Thirty by Ella". In 1977 he played a bandleader in New York, New York, starring Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro and also acted as a technical consultant for the film.He died in Palm Springs, California, aged 71.
G.Auld played the Otto Link Master Link mouthpiece with a Selmer Radio Improved tenor sax then later on a Conn tenor sax, he switched later to this Improved Tone Master, then a metal Berg Larsen mouthpiece and a King Super 20 tenor sax.
Otto Link New York :
"Babe Russin" B.R.
(own Babe Russin
personnal Improved Tone Master model)
(1946) Tenor sax only.
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Irving "Babe" Russin (June 18, 1911 - August 4, 1984) was a tenor saxophone player.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Russin played with some of the best known jazz bands of the
1930s and 1940s, including Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. He led his
own band briefly in the early 1940s. He solos in the recording the Glenn Miller band made of
Jerry Gray's composition, "A String of Pearls" for Bluebird Records in 1941. In 1950, Russin
was credited as a musician with the backup band on two Frank Sinatra songs for Columbia
records, "Should I?" and "You Do Something To Me". He co-wrote the instrumental "All the
Things You Ain't" with Jimmy Dorsey which was released as a V-Disc 78 single, No. 391B, in
March, 1945. In 1953 he appeared briefly in the 1953 Universal-International movie The
Glenn Miller Story.
Russin plays on the soundtrack to the 1954 Warner Bros. Judy Garland movie A Star Is Born,
playing "Cheating On Me" with a small group. He also appeared in the 1956 Universal-
International movie The Benny Goodman Story.
The 1946 Otto Link Improved Tone Master B.R. model was made by Otto Link only for Babe Rusin himself. He played from 1940 on an Otto Link Tone Master Hawkins Special.
He also played on a Bob Dukoff Hollywood mouthpiece in 1946.
Babe Russin had a very nice mellow tone, elegant vibrato, a swinging punchy tone on fast tempo and always played on a 10M Conn tenor sax.
Otto Link New York :
"Flip Phillips" F.P.
(own F.Phillips
personnal Improved Tone Master model)
(1946) Tenor sax only.
The Otto Link Improved Tone Master F.P. model was made by Otto Link only for Flip Phillips himself.
The mouthpiece pictured is the own Flip Phillips mouthpiece.
This mouthpiece was played by F.Phillips on legendary Mercury / Verve records with Charlie Parker and Machito orchestra in december 1950 on "Machito Afro Cuban Jazz" and "Norman Granz Jazz Session" in july 1952, with Charlie Parker, Benny Carter, Johnny, Hodges and Ben Webster and on many other recordings.
It was nickel and gold plated by Otto Link in the 60's.
(Thanks to Mr Frank Laidlaw and Mr Kenny Davern).
