NEW ORLEANS — Belgium gave the world the saxophone, and today, the European country gave New Orleans a really BIG saxophone.
A delegation of Belgian leaders presented the city with this Tricentennial gift at the Musical Legends Park on Bourbon Street.
Belgian Adolph Saxe invented the saxophone, so it’s a fitting present for the city that invented jazz.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu connects the dots for us on how the saxophone made its way to New Orleans.
“It was a legendary jazz musician Sidney Bechet who was actually a clarinetist, who while he was touring Europe just happened to stop in a London junk store and find a soprano saxophone,” Landrieu said.
And if you’re wondering how you get something that big from Belgium to New Orleans, the Belgians said they used FedEx.