Ralph Carney, a saxophonist and jokingly self-described “man of a thousand instruments” heard on albums by Tom Waits, the Black Keys, St. Vincent, Elvis Costello, the B-52’s and Allen Ginsberg, died on Dec. 16 in Portland, Ore. He was 61.

His death, after sustaining head injuries in a fall at his home, was announced on Twitter by his nephew Patrick Carney, the drummer for the Black Keys. Ralph and Patrick Carney collaborated on writing and recording “Bojack’s Theme” for the animated Netflix series “Bojack Horseman.”

Mr. Carney emerged from Akron, Ohio, in the late 1970s as a member of Tin Huey, a band on the arty side of new wave, and became a busy studio musician. Although best known for playing saxophones of all sizes, his arsenal also included clarinet, trumpet, violin, harmonica, panpipes, keyboards, trombone, ukulele and banjo.

“I try to play every instrument ever made,” he once told a television interviewer.

His long list of studio credits reflects not a colorless sideman for hire but a versatile musician with a distinct sensibility: whimsical, rowdy, eclectic, wry, historically informed, sometimes spooky, sometimes absurd. He could make his saxophones honk, croon, cackle and lament.