The new Bassic Sax website and Bassic Sax Blog are a continuation of the work that originally began 25 years ago first with the .ca and then with the .info extensions. As those sites got bigger and more unwieldy they required retooling and rebuilding regularly until finally in late 2023, they broke in spectacular way.
This led me to make the decision in early 2025, to start over fresh and move only the most important information into a new site.
The old Bassic Sax Blog and website had suffered from scope creep for years. That’s why I am choosing to use this major database crash as an opportunity to rebuild and focus on the areas for which both myself and my websites are known for.
Who I am
For those who don’t know me, or don’t remember because it’s been a minute 😉 , my name is Helen Kahlke. I am now a retired saxophone teacher and former professional player. I am also a saxophone historian, and have spent the last 20+ years researching bass and vintage saxophones of Germanic origin. Those instruments will be the focus of this Bassic Sax website and Bassic Sax Blog.
If you are desperately looking for some of the information contained on my old site, it has been indexed fairly well on the Internet Archives. The website can be found here through most of its 20+ year history, as can the blog for most of its 15+ year stint.
But did you not have backups?
Yes, yes of course I did. But rather than install all the old content en masse, I am strategically looking at what I am going to use and what I am going to let the Internet Archives keep for me.
What I do now musically
These days I play Keilwerth saxophones almost exclusively, and can be found subbing all over the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley region of BC. I keep myself fairly busy playing everything from soprano through bass sax in everything from swing bands to saxophone ensembles. You might even see me at the occasional blues session or jam with my beloved SX90R Shadow tenor.