Parisian Jazz Lamp

A tortured artist is someone who expresses their pain through their art. Some great examples are Vincent Van Gogh who mutilated his own ear, Edward Munch with his painting “The Scream”, or Francisco Goya with like half of his artwork. However, I believe that there is a great unknown tortured artist in this world and he lives somewhere in the Boulder area. I discovered this when I started calling music shops looking for a beyond repair saxophone or trumpet. One music shop responded saying they had just that. When I went to pick up the saxophone I was presented with a dented, extremely bent, broken instrument that was everything I was looking for. When I asked what happened to it, I was greeted with this story: A saxophone playing 6th grader in the Boulder area was in band class one day when he finally had enough. He apparently stopped playing, gently laid his saxophone down between the wall and a large steel band door, and proceeded to slam the door on the saxophone repeatedly. I personally like to imagine that he was playing the most beautiful melody that a saxophone has ever produced but right when he approached the climax he played the wrong note causing the saxophone to be introduced to the door. After collecting this instrument from this tortured artist, I took the saxophone home and created my Upcycle saxophone lamp using the Parisian Jazz Aesthetic!

Figure 1: My completed Parisian jazz lamp!

Aesthetic

Jazz is something I’ve always been interested in, starting last year. I find the genre relaxing, timeless, and mysteriously appealing. In fact, I used to play the tenor saxophone but after finding the instrument far too simple, I switched to the harmonica. This passion I have for playing the harmonica led me to taking the History of Jazz at CU Boulder. A class that was wonderfully entertaining for me, from learning about the early tunes of Jelly Roll Morton, to famous saxophone players like John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young. Although the harmonica did not appear much in the textbook, I think it is still worth reading.

After listening to hundreds of songs by these jazz legends, I developed a taste for this style of music. This newfound pleasure would stick with me when I went to Europe late last summer. My friend Eugene and I stumbled into one of the most famous jazz clubs in Paris, Le Caveau de la Huchette.

Figure 2: In front of Le Caveau de la Huchette, taken by me, May 11, 2024, 11PM(proof that I can stay up late)

Le Caveau de la Huchette is a jazz club in the latin quarters of paris. The building dates back to the 16th Century and the jazz club was founded in 1949(and it feels that old, it’s awesome). The building is a sort of labyrinth with the hallways snaking its way down to the basement dance floor.

Figure 3: Entering the jazz club

Then at the jazz club the visitor is transported back into the 1940’s with themes of red and yellow, exposed brick everywhere, and hundreds of pictures of old performers playing at the Le Caveau.

Figure 4 & 5: Both taken the same night, May 11, 2024. Figure 3 shows a young trombonist who was yanked from the crowd as his tryout for the band. Figure 4 shows the singer/trumpet player

 

 

Figure 6, 7 & 8: Images taken at Le Caveau de la Huchette

I believe this jazz club is quintessential Parisian jazz. The Parisian jazz style is warm and cozy, with a romantic and intimate atmosphere. Songs typically focus more on melodic beauty and almost have a flowery feeling(ex: Petite Fleur by Sidney Bechet who played this song at Le Caveau de la Huchette). Typical colors are not normal jazz blue but more bright like a bright red or yellow.

Vision

Therefore for my project, I would like to create something that would fit nicely into a Parisian Jazz club. It must fit the aesthetic of being bright, fun, and exciting, and not something that puts someone to sleep. I want it to have a connection to jazz and be something that can stand uniquely on its own, like how Parisian jazz stands uniquely away from classic jazz.

That’s why I created a saxophone lamp! My functional goals for this project are as follows. I want to create a saxophone lamp that produces light from a bulb and a strip light, have a base for the saxophone to stand on, and can display any light I want, therefore helping add to an aesthetic.

My artistic goals for this project are to create a unique looking lamp that follows the aesthetic of a Parisian jazz club. Therefore, I would like my saxophone to actually be inverted instead of right side up. This is because I saw saxophone lamps online and with the lamp shade at the top they looked a little tacky and forced. However, with an inverted saxophone I believe it looks more natural. I would also like to artistically have the base of the lamp be a vinyl record to match more of the jazz aesthetic. 

Figure 9: My initial sketches(if you close your eyes they look better)

Therefore, I believe that this lamp, being a unique twist on a standard saxophone, would fit the cozy, loud, bright aesthetic of a Parisian Jazz Club.

Fabrication process

I sourced my saxophone from Rocky Mountain music repair, an old vinyl record from my grandmother, and a metal rod and wood from my father. Then I went to HomeDepot and bought a speaker Light Bulb, a strip light, a fixture, a cord, and a plug. These are all of the materials I needed for this project. I am pretty happy with this as 90% of my project is up-cycled, except for my electronics. Furthermore, since I found a light bulb with a speaker built in, the saxophone now plays music!

I began by constructing the base that the saxophone would sit into. I cut a circle from my dads piece of wood, drilled a hole in it and stuck the hollow metal rod through it. Then I fished the lamp cord through this rod. Next, I drilled a larger hole in the vinyl record and pushed the metal rod through it. The base of the lamp is now essentially complete.

Figure 10: Base Construction

Next, I turned the saxophone upside down and stuck it through the metal rod. Now the saxophone was standing on the base but it could be pulled out easily and was not structurally attached. That’s why I then used clamps and began feeding a very large amount of gorilla glue down the saxophone, with the hope that it would glue the bar to the inside of the saxophone. I attached tape all over the empty holes, and let it dry for 24 hours.

Figure 11: First Drying Stage

Unfortunately, the glue I used turned out to be flexible glue, and would not harden like a rock like I wanted. That’s why the next day I went back to home depot, bought the world strongest bonding Epoxy, and dumped all of it into the saxophone and let it dry again.

Figure 12: Second Drying Stage

Now that the saxophone is eternally attached to this metal rod, it was time to attach all of the lights! I added strip lights below the vinyl record, and since it came with its own adhesive, it was easy to attach. Then I attached the end of the lamp cord to a plug and the front of the lamp cord(the one coming out of the bell of the saxophone) to a light fixture. Then I screwed in the speaker light bulb and pulled on the cord from the bottom, therefore tightening the bulb into the bell of the saxophone. Then I attached a metal bracket to the base of the cord so it would never move, and therefore the light bulb would never move.

Figure 13 & 14: Base of the saxophone

Final Artifact

As shown in the figures above, I have successfully created my Parisian saxophone lamp. The saxophone can produce light of any color, and even play music. It fits all of my functional goals such as standing on a base, producing light from a strip and a bulb, and producing many different colors of light. Furthermore, I believe that it fits my artistic goals of conforming to a Parisian jazz aesthetic. This is because I think that if you were to put my saxophone lamp into Le Caveau de la Huchette on a random table somewhere it would fit in nicely. I like that the bell of the saxophone makes the piece feel more like a reading light than a full blown lamp, giving it more of an intimate feel. Furthermore, the colors it can produce and the vinyl record give it that fun, Parisian vibe. 

 

Figure 15, 16, 17: Completed Parisian saxophone lamp

Whats Next

I will keep this in my room as it is incredible that I can make something that looks this amazing, I clearly have a gift. However, if I were to make this again, I would just use different glue and keep everything else the same. 

Thank you for reading!

 

Citations of Sources:

“CAVEAU de LA HUCHETTE.” Caveaudelahuchette.fr, 2025, www.caveaudelahuchette.fr/. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

‌Citations of Pictures:

All images not cited are taken by me, Max Van Cleave

[6] Google photo review of Le Caveau de la Huchette taken by João Corrêa, 2024 

[7] Google photo review of Le Caveau de la Huchette taken by Alberto Ortiz, 2024 

[8]Google photo review of Le Caveau de la Huchette taken by Le Caveau de la Huchette, 2024 [7] Google photo review of Le Caveau de la Huchette taken by MC MC, 2024