Rudy Wiedoeft

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Rudy Wiedoeft

Wiedoeft in 1920

Background information

Birth name Rudolph Cornelius Wiedoeft

Born January 3, 1893

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Died February 18, 1940 (aged 47)

Flushing, New York, United States

Occupation(s) Saxophonist

Rudolph Cornelius Wiedoeft (January 3, 1893 - February 18, 1940) was

a U.S. saxophonist.

Biography[edit]
Born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of German immigrants, at a young age Wiedoeft started
playing with his family orchestra, first using a violin, then a clarinet. He relocated to New
York City and switched to saxophone, then still an unusual instrument. He became known
as a virtuoso saxophonist during the 1910s, made more than 300 recordings for many
different record companies, and did much to popularize the saxophone as an instrument in
both the U.S. and overseas. His main instrument was the C melody saxophone, a variety
which was immensely popular from the 1910s until about 1930. He also played and
recorded sometimes using E-flat alto and B-flat soprano saxophones as well.
His style was noted for very rapid runs of well-articulated notes in between long 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 (trumpet, trombone, etc.) players and flutists. He was also known for his style of
vibrato, which was very wide during the later years of his playing. During his earlier years,
Wiedoeft's use of vibrato was quite spare. Wiedoeft employed several other 'sound effects,'
such as slap tonguing and "laughing" (altering/bending the pitch of the note) through his
horn, and alongside his very distinguishable vibrato, became a part of his musical
repertoire. While he incorporated some elements of early jazz into his playing, he remained
stylistically a pre-jazz artist. Some of his original compositions were successes,
notably Valse Erica, Valse Llewellyn, Saxema, Saxophobia, and Sax-o-Phun.
He remained a very popular entertainer into the 1920s and performed regularly by radio,
but his style started to sound more and more dated to the public as his career continued
into the 1930s. He worked for a while in Rudy Vallee's band, then for a while in France.
From the mid-1930s on, he essentially stopped playing and was involved in several mining
investments that were not successful.
Rudy and his wife Mary Wiedoeft had a difficult relationship partially due to difficulties of
maintaining their rather flamboyant lifestyle and alcohol abuse. During 1937, he was nearly
killed when he was stabbed by his wife. The couple reconciled, however, and during the
same year, Rudy made his last radio performance.
He died in Flushing, New York, on February 18, 1940, from cirrhosis of the liver.