“I do have a lot of woodwinds that
nobody else has,” admits Doug—
including a Tubax, which is a contrabass
saxophone with a range an octave lower
than a baritone-saxophone. Webb says
that he is the only guy around town who
plays the E-flat Tubax that owns it,
adding, “It’s a great instrument, because
it’s incredibly in-tune and you can play it
softer than a regular contrabass-sax.”
Doug Webb
Recently, Webb acquired a B-flat Tubax,
which he says plays an octave lower than
a bass-sax—down to the A-flat below a
piano, making it the lowest woodwind
ever made. “It’s really easy to play intune,” Doug says, “I can play base lines
on it and not get tired.”
Add to those options, ethnic woodwinds,
bamboo saxophones and Chinese flutes
and Doug Webb is your guy. In fact, he
recorded the music for the Clint
Eastwood film Gran Torino, where he
says that he played all Chinese flutes
after listening to Vietnamese source
music to catch the general idea.
“I take every gig I get called for,” says
Doug, who recently played bass flute in
an all flute orchestra, “it was really hard
music!” “I try to do things outside my
comfort zone,” which is Doug’s approach
to making progress.
Ultimately, doing what Webb does has
made him a better musician and because
of all his recording work, he thinks it’s
probably made him more aware of pitch
and playing in-tune than a lot of famous
jazz musicians.
Music Doug would really enjoy
When ask if their where any musicians
or bands he’d like to get called to play
with, Doug’s immediate response was
“sure, Rolling Stones that would be
great!” “Jazz wise, Chick Corea—I’ve
never played with Chick, though I’ve
played with Stanley Clark a lot,” said
Webb, who describes Stanley as a “real
sweetheart” that’s provided him with
important professional guidance. “I love
working with Stanley,” Webb gushed,
“he’s been really good to me over the
years.” In fact, Doug has a solo on
Stanley Clark’s newest record release.
“Herbie Hancock—there you go!” Webb
added. Also, Doug wouldn’t mind
playing with Keith Jarrett. “I never
played with Elvin Jones either, though I
played with McCoy Tyner once,” said the
increasingly animated reed-man.
“There’re all kinds of great gigs—I’ve
never played with Steely Dan,” said
Webb, as though he was just promised a
trip to the candy store.