A live saxophonist for your cocktail hour, company party or launch in Amsterdam. Solo from EUR 600, over a DJ set from EUR 750 on top, quote within one business day.

How it works

Three ways to hire a saxophonist in Amsterdam

The word saxophonist covers three different bookings, and the price depends on which one you need. A solo saxophonist plays lounge, soul and house lines over backing tracks or over the venue's own music, which is the right size for arrival drinks and a cocktail hour. A saxophonist over a DJ set is the party format: the DJ carries the floor and the sax rides on top of it, live, for the peak of the night. And a DJ plus saxophone act is both in one, a single set that starts in the background and ends on the dance floor without a handover.

Noam's honest advice as a bandleader: if your evening is mostly standing and talking, book the solo saxophonist and spend the difference on the bar. If the night ends on a dance floor, the sax belongs over a DJ, and Tom Jaxx is the player we send first. He has shared stages with La Fuente, Roog, Benny Rodrigues and Mr. Belt & Wezol, and has played Ibiza beach clubs and corporate events in Dubai, so he knows how to work a floor rather than stand on it.

Live saxophonist for a corporate event in Amsterdam

Most corporate bookings for a saxophonist in Amsterdam follow the same shape. Guests arrive between 18:00 and 19:00 and the saxophonist plays solo over a lounge playlist, so the room has energy before the first speech. During dinner the sax stops, or a jazz trio takes over if the budget allows. After the speeches a DJ opens the floor and the saxophonist comes back for the two peak hours, playing over the DJ. One act, one invoice, and a night that builds instead of restarting three times. For the DJ side of that evening, see our corporate event DJ in Amsterdam page, and for the combined act see DJ with live saxophonist in Amsterdam.

Why companies book a saxophonist through Lupa

• References you can check. Heineken, Microsoft, Salesforce, Booking.com, IBM, Canon, City of Amsterdam, ING and Tommy Hilfiger have booked our acts.
• VAT invoicing. Every booking comes with a written contract and a VAT invoice addressed to your company, with BumaStemra handled.
• Backup guarantee. If the saxophonist falls ill, we replace him with a player of the same level. Your event stands.
• Own sound and light with a technician from EUR 850 extra, set within the venue's decibel limit, or we use the house system when it is good enough.
• One contact person from the quote to the last note, usually Noam himself.
• Quote within one business day, itemised, no hidden agency margin.

Saxophonist for a cocktail hour or drinks reception in Amsterdam

A cocktail hour is where a solo saxophonist earns its fee. Guests arrive in waves over forty minutes, nobody wants a band yet, and a playlist on its own makes the room feel like a hotel lobby. A saxophonist over that playlist gives the arrival a live focus at conversation volume, and the player can move through the room, out onto a terrace or up a rooftop with a small wireless rig. For a reception where you would rather have voice and guitar than a horn, our acoustic duo in Amsterdam page covers the same hour from EUR 900, and if the reception runs into a seated dinner, cocktail and dinner music in Amsterdam shows how we hand over from one format to the next.

Prices for a saxophonist in Amsterdam

A solo saxophonist in Amsterdam starts at EUR 600, the soloist rate, for a cocktail hour or a drinks reception. A live saxophonist over a DJ set, our booking with Tom Jaxx, is EUR 750 on top of the DJ fee, and our DJs (Savoy, Demi Elisa, Peter Smith) start at EUR 1,000 for three hours. Golden Sax, DJ and saxophone as one act, starts at EUR 1,600. Sound and light with a technician is from EUR 850 extra when the room needs it, and each extra musician, a percussionist for example, adds EUR 500. Saturdays from May to September and December dates run higher. Every quote is itemised and comes back within one business day.

Where a saxophonist works in Amsterdam

The saxophone is the act for the rooms a band cannot reach. Rooftops like A'DAM Toren, where Golden Sax has played, the glasshouses of Hortus Botanicus, hotel bars at W Amsterdam and Pulitzer Amsterdam, and the industrial halls of Westergasfabriek and Thuishaven where the sax sits on top of a full DJ production. For an outdoor or rooftop set we ask for covered space for the gear and a power point within ten metres, and we confirm the venue's volume limit and end time before the contract is signed. Canal houses with narrow stairs are no problem: a saxophonist carries his own instrument and a small rig fits in one car.

Common mistakes when booking a saxophonist in Amsterdam

• Booking the sax for the whole night. Two peak hours over the DJ is the right dose. Four hours of saxophone wears thin.
• Choosing the solo format for a dance floor. A solo saxophonist over backing tracks is a reception act. A dance floor needs a DJ underneath.
• Not telling the venue. Hotels with rooms above the bar set volume limits and end times. We check them so the set is not cut short.
• Leaving the DJ and the saxophonist to meet on the night. We brief both on the same run of show, or book them as one act.
• Booking a summer Saturday six weeks out. Tom Jaxx plays 120+ shows a year. Book three to five months ahead for May to September and December.