In addition to play-testing these pieces on my own I had the pleasure of enlisting two colleagues along the way. When the pieces first arrived my friend Kaj Hansen gave a listen to all four KALI. He immediately preferred my sound on gold over rhodium and found it difficult to choose 7* or 8 as being better. When pushed to make a choice, he preferred the bolder, more robust sound of the 8.
One day later, Carl Cox, who is a wonderful player in his own right gave a listen to me and tried the KALI for himself. Oddly enough, he sounded better on the rhodium and best on the PARVATI! Morphology obvious plays a large part in what pieces each individual prefers. When Carl listened to me he was torn between the 7* and 8. We concluded the 7* was a better well-rounded piece for many situations and the 8 was a great screamer which still could be controlled when necessary.
Each KALI, as well as Theo’s original AMMA comes with the ingenious Liberty Ligature, Reed Replace Cap and interchangeable bite pad (mouthpiece patch). The ligature is integrated into the mouthpiece by two removable setscrews. There are available interchangeable pressure plates and five placement options for the ligature. I chose to use the Liberty Ligature in its default (2nd hole) position. Removing the Liberty Ligature and opting for a traditional ligature also provided me with two conveniences. The first convenience was being able to use a regular mouthpiece cap instead of the reed replacer cap. The second was being able to access the table for flattening the tip of a warped reed. This old trick of placing the tip of the reed under your thumb and against the table has become habit for me. I spoke with Theo at length regarding my experiences with the Liberty Ligature and Reed Replacer Cap. As usual, Theo was responsive and eager to assimilate my findings into future designs.
Lastly, a note on the PARVATI: I can tell you with all honesty that my buddy Carl Cox sounded best on this PARVATI 7*. It played extremely well for me but a PARVATI just isn’t the right piece for someone who has been a fan of Dukoffs and Guardalas. As I told Theo in an earlier conversation, “Too much Joe Lovano in my sound on the PARVATI.” Players looking for a darker, rounder more traditional piece will gravitate toward the PARVATI.
All this said, I have not even approached the topic of craftsmanship yet. Theo’s attention to detail is surpassed by none. The pieces are all a work of art. You can talk about chamber sizes, tips, and rails, roll over baffles, curved inner sidewalls all you want. The bottom line is either a piece works for you or it doesn’t. These KALI work GREAT for me. They give me the core to the sound with plenty of brightness and edge when pushed.
Over the years I have played on Dukoffs, modified Links and an original hand made Guardala MBI exclusively for 14 years. Following the 14 years on the Guardala MBI, I felt the need for change. That is when Theo customized a new, NY Link for me. That Link gave me more fullness of sound, yet with better control than the original MBI. This KALI allows me to recapture some of what I had in that original Guardala, while it maintains the bonuses associated with the large chamber. Now I just have to get a KALI to keep!
You can judge for yourself with the clip below.
Skip Spratt
SaxShed.com
