“Trying to seek the sound of traditional Jazz in this century and thus to define the style of the Kanee V model mouthpieces.  Kanee V model mouthpieces use moderate slope of the baffle and medium chamber to produce a flexible,powerful penetration of tone”  (This sounds like it was translated right from the Chinese but you get the idea)

The V7 model I have is said to have a medium long facing curve and I believe the tip opening is close to a .105 tip.

Kanee Custom V7 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

I enjoyed playing this mouthpiece as much or maybe a little more than the O7 model.  It does indeed have a brighter slightly more modern sound to it.  If you look at the baffle in comparison to the O7 model it is a higher rollover baffle that is longer than the O7 model.  The description on the brochure says it has a medium chamber but my V7 seems to have a larger chamber than the O7.  The difference is that the O7 has a baffle that seems to continue through much of the chamber.  The V7 mouthpiece has a baffle that seems to stop at the beginning of the chamber and then open up to a larger cavernous chamber area.  It reminds me of some NY links and Theo Wanne large chamber mouthpieces I have played.  This combination of a higher baffle but larger chamber is an interesting mix.  You have to have the balance just right so that the baffle gives you some nice power and brightness and the chamber fattens up the sound and makes it a bit darker.  Kanee mouthpieces did a great job with this one. As with the O7 model the tip, rails and chamber work look excellent.  The curve of the tip is a very close match to my Java reed tip curve which is always nice to see.

I used the same #3 Vandoren Java on this mouthpiece that I did on the O7.  I also used the same Marc Jean ligature.  If you listen to the clip I think you can hear how the tone is fat but has a bit more punch and brightness than the O7 model I reviewed yesterday.  You can hear it get brighter as I go up.  I went into the altissimo for a second and you could hear that funky brightness hiding in the sound just ready to burst forth.  This is a great example of a terrific all round piece.  Usually I feel the most comfortable on these type of mouthpieces as they let me go where ever I want instead of trapping me with a certain sound.  This mouthpiece actually remind me a bit of a Freddie Gregory hard rubber Mark IV I used to have and loved.  I ended up selling that piece after concluding it was too bright for me.  I’ll have to play this one some more to see where i can go sound wise with it.   Check out the sound clip and let me know what you think. Feel free to visit the Kanee website for more info at www.kaneemusic.com.

This mouthpiece is a .115 tip opening and is a bit larger than I usually prefer.   It had a big robust sound to it that leaned towards the brighter side of the tonal spectrum in my opinion.  Because of the larger tip opening, I found that I could blow tons of air through this mouthpiece.  It is one of the louder mouthpieces i have played on my website.  I didn’t feel totally comfortable with the larger tip so I put the recording in a file on my computer and forgot about it.  I just listened to it this morning though and think you can get a good idea of the sound of the mouthpiece from it.

If you are interested in John’s mouthpieces you can contact him on his website.  I hope in the future I can get a chance to try a .105-.110 tip which is more to my liking.  Let me know what you think.   Steve

This otto link mouthpiece plays beautifully.  This mouthpiece has a great jazz sound to it. Kind of that standard  kind of link tone.  Nice fat round sound that leans towards the darker side of the spectrum to me.  It also has a bit of an airy texture to the tone that is really nice.  Even though I am told this is a .110 it feels more like a .105 to me.  Eric does great work  and I’m looking forward to trying his Warburton mouthpieces shortly.

VRJT – Jazz Tenor (passaround model)
SSJT – Son of Slant (medium chamber)
NYJT – NY Jazz tenor (prototype – unbanded)

This review is of the  Jazz model tenor saxophone mouthpiece.

Jazz Model

If you look at the picture of the 3 mouthpieces above, the  Jazz model tenor mouthpiece is the mouthpiece in the middle. The beak has a lower profile to it than the Son of Slant mouthpiece that I reviewed. The body of the mouthpiece is also a bit narrower and is similar to the size of his Ceramic mouthpieces. This mouthpiece seems to have a similar baffle and slightly smaller chamber than the Son of Slant mouthpiece.

This mouthpiece seemed like a cross between the NY Jazz and Son of Slant model.  I liked that it was a bit darker than the NY model on the recording but it seemed to have a bit more punch and focus than the Son of Slant model.  I decided to play a little of “My One and Only Love” for all 3 mouthpiece clips so you can compare the sounds of each. You can hear that it is a little brighter and more focused than the “Son of Slant” clip but not by a lot.   I really felt more comfortable on the lower beak profile of this mouthpiece.  I really like this sound clip the best of the 3 because for me it is a bit fatter sounding than the NY but more focused than the Slant model. I like a mix of fatness and focus in my tenor sound.

For me, all three mouthpiece were great and it is very hard to pick a winner because they each have unique qualities.  As I write these reviews and listen to the sound clips I am even more confused about which one I would buy if I bought one…………. I think you could make any of them fit a variety of playing situations but if I was leaning more towards straight ahead playing I would go with the Son of Slant.  If I was leaning more towards the Rock and R&B thing but with the ability to play some jazz I would go with the NY.  If I wanted a mouthpiece in the middle that could hang on both sides and sound great I would probably go with the Jazz model.  Great job Aaron on another great mouthpiece. Visit www.DrakeMouthpieces.com for more details and to order a Jazz model to try for yourself.

VRJT – Jazz Tenor (passaround model)
SSJT – Son of Slant (medium chamber)
NYJT – NY Jazz tenor (prototype – unbanded)

This review is of the NY Jazz tenor mouthpiece.

NY Jazz

If you look at the picture of the 3 mouthpieces above, the NY Jazz tenor mouthpiece is the mouthpiece on the right without the gold band.  The beak has a lower profile to it than the Son of Slant mouthpiece that I reviewed. The body of the mouthpiece is also a bit narrower and is similar to  the size of his Ceramic mouthpieces.  This mouthpiece seems to have a slightly higher baffle and smaller chamber than the Son of Slant mouthpiece.

To be honest, this was my favorite to play of the three mouthpieces.  It just played effortlessly for me and if I blew  harder it was very easy to take it into a loud, brighter R@B type sound.  I like being able to do that on a gig.  I decided to play a little of “My One and Only Love” for all 3 mouthpiece clips so you can compare the sounds of each.  You can hear that it is quite a bit bright than the “Son of Slant” clip.  I found it to be easier for me to bend the notes and express myself on this mouthpiece.  I really felt more comfortable on the lower beak profile of this mouthpiece.  I think if I could play it longer I have a feeling this piece would smoke on a gig! Great job Aaron on another great mouthpiece. Visit www.DrakeMouthpieces.com for more details and to order a NY Jazz to try for yourself.

VRJT – Jazz Tenor (passaround model)
SSJT – Son of Slant (medium chamber)
NYJT – NY Jazz tenor (prototype – unbanded)

This is the review for the Son of Slant tenor saxophone mouthpiece.

Son of Slant

This first review is on the Son of Slant tenor mouthpiece.  If you look at the picture of the 3 mouthpieces above, it is the mouthpiece on the left.  You’ll notice that it is a bit bigger than the other two.  The beak has a higher profile to it than the others also. The thickness of the mouthpiece is about the same as a link and I used my Marc Jean ligature on it. It does indeed have the feel of an Otto Link while I was playing it.  The beak dimensions are very similar to my EB Otto Link and other hard rubber links I have played.

I really liked this mouthpiece.  It had a nice thick sound to it that I loved.  It had some beautiful brightness to it up top and was a joy to play.  I like mouthpiece that have a bit of character to the sound.  A distinctive sound to them.  This Son of Slant mouthpiece reminded me of a few Freddie Gregory  Mark II mouthpieces I use to own because of the thickness of the sound and it’s ability to play dark yet brighten up when pushed.   I decided to play a little of “My One and Only Love”  for all 3 mouthpiece clips so you can compare the sounds of each.  Great job Aaron on another great mouthpiece.  Visit www.DrakeMouthpieces.com for more details and to order a Son of Slant to try for yourself.

As you can see from the pictures the chamber of this mouthpiece has a horseshoe shape to it.  This chamber gives it a unique sound in my opinion.  The baffle is quite low in comparison to other mouthpieces I have tried.  Usually, the lower the baffle the darker the mouthpiece.  These Soloists are unique in that the low baffle gives them a darker sound but  the smaller horseshoe chamber gives them a focused and more powerful sound.  More focused than a wide open otto link type chamber might give with a low baffle.  It’s interesting to note the affect of the baffle and chamber combinations………..a higher baffle will speed up the air flow and make the mouthpiece brighter and louder but a smaller chamber will do this also by squeezing the air through a smaller hole.  It’s very interesting to me because the brights of a smaller chamber are quite different then the brights of a raised baffle.  Great players that play or have played soloists are Joe Henderson, Rich Perry,  and Kenny Garrett on alto………….. Let me know what you think. Steve

I wish I could spend more time with this piece but I have to send it back to the owner. This would be a great all round mouthpiece for all styles of music.  I could get pretty darn loud with it.   I think I will have to order one of these………… Let me know what you think. Steve

As you can see from the pictures this piece has straight side walls that run down into the chamber.  The mouthpiece plays with a big fat sound to it that isn’t as spread sounding as a slant or hard rubber link.  It’s a bit more focused and has a nice centered core to the sound..  I loved the sound in the upper register.  The notes sound fat and round to me which I love up there.  They just have a beautiful ring to them while still being soft and round sounding.  On this cut I’m just playing the head of “Naima” and doodling around a little bit.   If you ever want a great mouthpiece Mark Sepinuck (10mfan) is the guy to know.  I’m sending this one back to Mark.  I was really tempted to add it to my collection but it’s tax time and………… Take a listen and let me know what you think.  Enjoy!