I have a yamaha saxophone, it is one of their intermediate ranges (I forgot which one since I am living overseas). Sound quality is excellent. I play classical saxophone, and it produces this great warm tone (I have no idea how to describe it) that is excellent for this purpose. I am not sure about jazz though.
Agree. My mother owns a lot of land in the suburbs of my city. She sold a large amount of land in order to fully pay for my entire undergrad. She could leave her day job right now, but she really likes what she does and thinks of landlording as a side job for her in order for me and my sister to have a comfortable life.