Lima native Brandon “Sax B” Monford has taken a long road home to perform Saturday on his 30th birthday.
Photo courtesy of Never Seen Visuals
LIMA — Brandon “Sax B” Monford will host “Saturday Night Sax” starting at 5 p.m. at the American Legion Post 96, 711 S. Shore Drive, Lima.
The concert is scheduled on the day before his 30th birthday. He is particularly thankful for it, because it is a birthday he may not have been able to celebrate.
“I was born and raised in Lima, Ohio,” said Monford, a professional saxophonist, who now resides in Toledo. “My father is the pastor of Philippian Missionary Baptist Church on 8th Street on the south side of Lima… I attended North Middle School, an arts magnet school, where students had to choose between orchestra, band, or choir. In sixth grade, you had to decide what instrument to play. I was torn between drums and saxophone. I found out that my father used to play the saxophone when he was just a kid. So, wanting to be ‘like father, like son,’ I gravitated toward the saxophone.”
“The saxophone is both the easiest and the hardest instrument to play,” Monford said.
“It’s hard if you don’t have the proper training in terms of how to hold the sax and the embouchure,” which is the correct use of lips, tongue, teeth and face muscles when playing a wind instrument. Playing long stretches of music also requires developing control over one’s breathing.
In addition to the difficulty involved in learning the instrument, there were social barriers to pursuing the sax. “I didn’t want to be labeled as a ‘band geek’ so I would sneak out with my sax late after school and come in early with it the next day. I just didn’t want to get caught with it,” Monford said.
“I played from sixth grade and in concert band until my sophomore year in high school. That’s when I transitioned to playing for the church. The people in my life who impacted it the most and ultimately gave me that push were at the church. That’s where I developed a different kind of love for it because I finally found my purpose.”
“After I graduated, I went to college at the University of Toledo and played in shows. But I didn’t take it seriously until about six years ago. My left lung collapsed at the end of 2016. Long story short, they told me at the hospital that my right lung was strong enough to take in enough air to sustain my body while my left lung healed because I had played the saxophone. I can literally say that playing the saxophone saved my life.”
Until that moment, Monford did not realize he had suffered from asthma all his life.
While hospitalized for 10 days, Monford said it had “crossed his mind” that he would not ever be able to play the sax again, but admitted, “I was just more concerned about surviving. It was a life-or-death situation and living to see tomorrow was my biggest task at the moment. So, when my pulmonary doctor told me about how playing the sax had helped, I decided to pick it back up again as soon as I could. I was released from the hospital a couple days before Thanksgiving, and I picked the saxophone back up again New Year’s Eve.”
Before his diagnosis, Monford was aware, like many people, that asthma could causes shortness of breath, but he had no idea it could cause a lung to collapse if left untreated.
Additionally, he said his case was unusual in that he also had lost half his blood.
“I was closer to death than I was surviving,” leaving Monford to ask, “Why me of all people?”
The day before his release, he said he was so tired he was “ready to call it quits.”
It was his faith that gave him the willpower to recover.
“God has brought me to this situation,” he recalled thinking. “I know He is going to bring me through.”
Recovery was exceptionally difficult and challenged even the most basic daily life skills, like showering and eating. He returned to Lima to be nursed back to health by his family, regaining his strength one day at a time over three long months.
His parish was also supportive.
“I love Lima so much. I am one of Lima’s children. If it takes a village to raise a child, through all of it, they were there for me, whether it be with prayers, checking in, or dropping off food. All that played in integral part in helping me get back to normal.”
In 2019, just three years after the incident, Monford recorded his first EP, “Senseless Love Ballad.”
“Today, I don’t use an inhaler as much anymore, and I feel better than ever,” said Monford. Career-wise,“I’m well on the way … I’ve been blessed enough to play in great spaces like the Apollo Theater and all over the country.”
Monfort said five renowned artists shaped who he is as a saxophonist today: Gerald Albright, Kirk Whalum, Kenny G, Mike Phillips, and Trey Daniels.
The show Saturday at the American Legion will open with a live DJ and complimentary wine and a cash bar, along with a 360-photo booth, and food catered by Bri’s Bites and GiGi’s Sugar Shack.
“There will be a DJ from 5 to 7 to get people acclimated to the environment, to get people to let their hair down and get loose to enjoy the concert.”
The concert itself will begin at 7 p.m. when Monford takes the stage.
“The actual concert will be me as the headliner, but I will have a full band playing with me as well.”
Guest performers will include vocalist LaTrell and musician Nate Hicks.
“If I had to categorize, I guess the styles would range from ’80s and ’90s R&B to current R&B, blues, jazz and gospel. There will be a few covers and a few original pieces.”
He performed his “Sax B-100 Ways to Love Tour” earlier this year in April at the Old City Prime Upper Lounge in Lima.
When not performing in Lima, Monford is an accompanist with the Atlanta-based 85 South Show, a live improvisation comedy company that is traveling the country.
Tickets sales are limited to 250 and the price range is $30 (online) to $40 each on the day of the event. Ticket link: Linktr.ee/SaxBMusic.
For more information, and to preview his music, visit Sax B Music LLC’s social media sites on Apple Music, YouTube,
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkTr.ee, and TikTok.
The man who almost lost his music and his life has much more music to make in his future.
Reach Shannon Bohle at 567-242-0399, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @Bohle_LimaNews.
