In 2014 the town of Dinant, and particularly the ”Association Internationale A. Sax”, celebrated the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax.
Dinant is a city in Belgium on the banks of the Meuse River and backed by steep cliffs. Perched on an outcrop above town is the centuries-old fortified Citadel. It’s now a museum with sweeping views. Below it is the Gothic Collegiate Church of Our Lady. Nearby, on the site of saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax’s birthplace, Mr. Sax’s House has interactive exhibits on the instrument’s development.
\To raise awareness of the anniversary the mayor of Dinant, Richard Fournaux, asked Belgium’s bpost (also known as Belgian Post Group) to consider issuing a stamp featuring Adolphe Sax and the saxophone. bpost’s Stamps & Philately design unit then worked on a concept for a sheetlet with two stamps. The design revolved around two photos taken by Dinant photographer Jacky Lepage, who was a passionate jazz fan. The young designer Elisabeth Drielsma reworked the photos for the stamp, overseen by the photographer and advised by bpost, and designed the sheetlet. One of the stamps was then given a special finish at Stamps Production Belgium in Mechelen.
The saxophone on the stamp at the top is printed in relief, with the use of foil to give the image a rainbow effect.
The stamp sheet below features one of the most famous musicians to have played the saxophone, Charlie Parker, issued by St. Vincent in 1989. He has probably been the subject of more stamps and covers than any other jazz musician.
The saxophone has been depicted many times on postage stamps over the years and below are some examples:
1995 Jazz musician’s sheet, among the artists being three great saxophonists – Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Coleman Hawkins.
