Besides being a dealer of high end mouthpieces, Mark is also a great sax player.  I remember him taking his sax out while we were hanging at his house and playing a bit.  He is a great player.  This fact is important to me because if Mark says a mouthpiece is amazing then I know that he knows what he is talking about because he can play.

This mouthpiece is a Selmer Soloist short shank model that was refaced by Theo Wanne.  Whenever I see that Theo Wanne has refaced a mouthpiece I get interested because the mouthpieces I have played that he has refaced have been great.

Selmer Soloist Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

Because of the short shank and small chamber of this mouthpiece, it has to be positioned far out on my neck cork to be in tune.  I have heard from other players that this is normal for a soloist.  This soloist has a .090 tip opening which is really small for what I am used to playing.   It didn’t feel small at all though,  it played great with a  Vandoren Java #4 reed and felt like a .105 tip to me.

Soloist have a sound and response all their own. It’s hard to describe, but for me, the sound is dark when played softly but super focused.  It has a small horse shoe shaped chamber that tends to focus the air column and sound into a tight core in my opinion.  When you really blow hard on these mouthpieces they can get super bright so you have to be careful. If you can keep your airstream stable and under control  then the Soloist can get one of the prettiest  sounds from the high end.  The low end can be nice and lush sounding but it isn’t as fat and spread sounding as a great Otto Link mouthpiece.  I think this is due to the smaller chamber of the Soloist.

This was indeed a great example of a Selmer Soloist tenor mouthpiece.  Thanks again to Mark for letting me play it for a little while.  Keep him in mind if you are looking for a special high end mouthpiece for yourself.

This clip is from a fragment of the tune Beatrice that I did for Sax on the Web.  I couldn’t put the whole tune up because it was too big but I took some bits and pieces from the recording so you could hear the sound of the mouthpiece.

The mouthpieces I like the best are the ones that I form a connection with.  It’s more than just feeling comfortable with it.  It’s like I feel like the mouthpiece is just an extension of me.  What ever I think of and try to play just happens on the mouthpiece.  When I have that kind of connection I love it.  I feel like I can play 10 times better than I usually do.  That connection very rarely happens the minute I play a mouthpiece (Although once in awhile it does……) but it can happen hours or days later as I play it over and over.

OK,  So here is a side by side clip comparison of 9 alto mouthpieces that I have on my shelf right now.  I have a V16 refaced by Brian Powell with a super long 23 MM facing curve, an Aizen Jazz Master 6, a Ted Klum Acoustimax .080, an Aizen NY Jazz 6, a Mouthpiece Cafe NYC 6,  a modern Meyer refaced by the late Jon Van Wie,  a Theo Wanne Gaia 6 and a Aizen SO 6.  I have played all of these mouthpieces for many hours.  The Aizens are the latest that I just received last week.

In each clip, I’m playing a similar idea.  The D Major scale, a little blues riff and some bebop lines from my “Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale” book.  Nothing fancy just a simple line so perhaps you can hear better how the mouthpieces sound next to each other.  I’m using a 2 1/2 Ishimori Woodstone reed on all the mouthpieces and a Vandoren Optimum ligature.  I’m trying really hard to play the same from clip to clip so you can judge by the sound and not just by what I’m playing.

I’m hoping this series of clips will help some of you better decide which mouthpiece is for you.   Of course……..you never know until you get it and try it.  I’ve written some of my initial thought below each mouthpiece.  I will add to those or change them as I listen to the clips more.   Please feel free to write any comments or questions you might have below.   Thanks,   Steve

Vandoren V16 .080 refaced by Brian Powell

Fat spread sound with smooth articulation. Kind of fuzzy around the edges of the tone.

Modern Meyer .075 refaced by JVW

Clear and brighter with a hollowness to the sound. Has a sharpness and clarity to the sound.

LAW MCB Alto Mouthpiece .080 tip

Brighter very centered sound. Laserbeam type focus to the tone.

Aizen Jazz Master 7

A little darker fatter more spread sound with smooth articulation. A round full  somewhat smokey tone.

Aizen NY Jazz 7

Nice lively bright bebop type of sound. Nice resistance and dryness to the sound.

Aizen SO 7

A little darker super compact clear and focused sound. Super free blowing.

Mouthpiece Cafe Resin NYC 6

Bright but with a nice roundness and soft edges to the tone. Free blowing.

Ted Klum Acoustimax .080 tip

Thick medium bright sound with character to the tone. Nice resistance to blow against.

Theo Wanne Gaia 6

Brighter tone with a nice character and evenness throughout the horn. Some resistance when blowing.

Let me know what you think below.  I am always very interested to hear others views and opinions.  If you have any questions feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer…………(just don’t ask me which is the best one that is right for you)     Steve

The tune for this month (December 2010) is  “My Favorite Things” by Richard Rogers.  Of course for sax players, probably the most famous recording is that of John Coltrane’s.  It’s hard to even play the tune without having thoughts of Coltrane on it.  I recorded this version with a track from Jamey Aebersold’s Volume 90 Odd Times.  This is a great Aebersold  to have because it has some common tunes on it that are played in odd time signatures.  This version I am playing on is in 11/4.  You would think this would be hard but it seems like the tune just seems to fit perfectly with this time signature.  For most of the solo I’m playing around with some blues scales,approach notes,3 tonic chromatisisms and the dorian scale.   If you have any interest in any of these sounds or ideas feel free to check out my lessons on these subjects found at my lesson store. I’m using a Theo Wanne Gaia 7 soprano mouthpiece with a Vandoren Java #3 1/2 reed on a Yamaha YSS-62 soprano saxophone. There’s a tiny bit of a squeak in the sound because of a dry reed when I start but that soon goes away as the reed gets wet.   Enjoy!  Let me know what you think.    Steve

When I first opened the package my first thought was that this mouthpiece had a larger chamber.  I was a bit nervous when I saw this because I haven’t really dug large chambered soprano mouthpieces up to this date.  Some of them were good but just not my thing. I prefer the focused tone and projection of a small chambered soprano mouthpiece.   It was larger than my Selmer Soloist and Riffault mouthpieces but not as large as some of the other large chambered soprano mouthpieces I have tried.  I was curious to try it.

Theo Wanne Gaia Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece

When I played it, I was surprised to find that my Vandoren Java 3 reed felt too soft on it. I have been using these on my Riffault soprano mouthpiece that is a .065 and they offer a nice resistance. On the Gaia they felt softer. I opened up a new one and put that on and it was a little better. If I buy one of these I think I might have to go with 3 1/2 Java reed.  From the moment I played it I loved it.  It has a focused sound that is midway between bright and dark but the bigger chamber gives it a nice fatness and thickness to the sound that I loved.  The baffle is a high rollover  which means that’s it’s high up near the tip and then rolls down into the chamber.  The rollover baffle gives the mouthpiece some nice punch and power.  The intonation is as perfect as I have seen on my Yamaha YSS-62 Soprano.  I was actually surprised how in tune it was.  Every note was right on.

I played it for 5 minutes before I recorded this clip and it was a joy to play. Very easy for me to play.  The low notes sound fat and kind of grainy to me which I love and the high notes are controlled, fat and thick sounding.  It’s a great mix of the full fat sound that projects and fills the room.   In this clip, I’m messing around with the changes to “There Will Never Be Another You”.  I felt right at home with this mouthpiece. I’m hoping I can buy this one I am trying. If not, I will be buying one soon enough. Great work Theo!  Check out www.theowanne.com to get one yourself and watch the video of Theo talking about this mouthpiece!

Theo Wanne Hard Rubber  Gaia Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

This Gaia tenor mouthpiece had some nice volume to it without getting brighter.  Many mouthpieces that can play really loud get increasingly brighter as you blow.  That can be a good thing if you like that or a bad thing if you don’t.  To me, this mouthpiece could get quite loud and full sounding but still retained that dark robust sound.  I really loved that.  The low notes were full and round sounding and sounded amazing when I sub-toned. Nice and lush sounding like I like them.  The high notes were fat and full sounding.  I could imagine playing classical music with this piece because it sounded so pretty to me.

The other thing that struck me about this mouthpiece, as well as the other Gaia’s I have tried, is how smooth the transition between notes are.  Playing scales and fast runs is as smooth as butter and the notes are amazingly even through out the range of the horn.  That type of response just makes me want to play faster and faster.

Like all of Theo Wanne’s mouthpieces, this one looked great and was a joy to play.  Thank you so much to Theo and his co-workers over there at Theo Wanne mouthpieces for letting me review all of these great mouthpieces.   For more information on the Gaia tenor sax mouthpiece visit www.theowanne.com .

Listen to the sound clip below and let me know what you think.  Enjoy!

Theo Wanne Wood Gaia Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

• Appearance:

Again, as with all Theo Wanne products, this mouthpiece looks great. This one is made out of a wood compound that is a mix of wood and resin.  It is advertised as never warping or cracking which is a great plus in my book. It  has the logo and “Gaia” engraved on it in gold as well as a gold band around the end of the shank.  It also comes with a gold “enlightened” ligature.   The rails and tip are perfect and even. The chamber and baffle look as good as it gets.

• Tone:

The Gaia has a medium sound that is right in the middle of bright to dark.  I think it leans a little bit towards the bright side of things.  I found this mouthpiece to be vibrant and the tone was nice and thick sounding. The wood material seems to give it a little more textured sound that to me adds character to the tone.  At times i even felt like the tone was a little smokey sounding.   Up high the notes were full sounding as was the low end. The .110 tip opening felt a little too big for my tastes. I would have loved to try this in a .105 tip.

• Intonation:

Intonation was great with this mouthpiece and within normal limits.

• Control:

The Gaia was easy to play for me.   It played great down low and up into the altissimo and the tone was even up and down the horn.

• Volume:

I could get nice and loud with this mouthpiece.  I’m not sure it would be my choice for a loud funk gig  but it does have a beautiful lush sound to it that would be perfect for some straight ahead gigs.  I did find it louder playing than the Ambika.

This is another great mouthpiece by Theo Wanne. For more information on the Gaia tenor sax mouthpiece visit www.theowanne.com .

Theo Wanne  Ambika Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece

• Appearance:

Again, as with all Theo Wanne products, this mouthpiece looks great.  This one is made out of hard rubber and has the logo and “Ambika” engraved on it in gold.  The band around the shank looks to be a black metal.  Even the ligature it comes with is black.  It looks appropriate for a dark sounding mouthpiece.  The rails and tip are perfect and even.  The chamber and baffle look as good as it gets.

• Tone:

The Ambika has a darker sound then the other Theo Wanne mouthpiece I have tried.  Sometimes a darker tone can sound almost dead but I found this mouthpiece very vibrant and the tone nice and thick sounding.  Up high the notes were full and round but still darker sounding than many other mouthpieces I have tried.  The .110 tip opening felt a little too big for my tastes.  I would have loved to try this in a .105 tip.

• Intonation:

Intonation was great with this mouthpiece and within normal limits.

• Control:

The Ambika was easy to play for me although I tend to like a mouthpiece that sounds a bit brighter (It might be because of my hearing loss over the years……….)  It played great down low and up into the altissimo and the tone was even up and down the horn.

• Volume:

I could get nice and loud with this mouthpiece although because of the darker nature of the tone I think a mouthpiece like this would get lost in the mix of a  rock or pop gig.  That’s not it’s thing.  I could easily imagine playing this on a jazz trio gig and filling up the room with a nice lush sound.

This is another great mouthpiece by Theo Wanne.  For more information on the Ambika tenor sax mouthpiece visit www.theowanne.com .

Theo Wanne Gaia Wood Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

• Appearance:

The Gaia mouthpiece looks fantastic. The tip, rails and table look great.   It looks like wood, smells like wood, feels like wood.  What I’ve been told though is that it is actually a wood mixed with resin so that it won’t crack or warp.   Here is a snippet from Theo’s website about it:

“Our new manufacturing technology allows us to make the GAIA Alto Stable Wood mouthpiece entirely from one piece of Stable Wood. Stable Wood has an incredibly rich and warm sound due to its wood grain and the character inherent in real wood. However, it will not crack or warp as Stable Wood is impregnated all the way through with resin, making it stable.”

This is a big concern for wood mouthpieces.   I know because I use to have a great wood mouthpiece years ago that warped really badly a couple weeks after I bought it.   I was devastated.  I vowed to never buy a wood mouthpiece again.   Mr. Wanne seems to have figured out how to get around the wood warpage issue so maybe it’s time to reconsider his “Stable Wood”.

• Tone:

Again, I am told that the material that a mouthpiece is made of doesn’t make a difference at all in the sound produced but I find this piece a bit darker and more textured than the hard rubber Gaia.  To me it seems to have more character to the sound.  It could be the materials affect I guess or maybe this piece is just made slightly different than the hard rubber version.  I found it a much more responsive than the hard rubber Gaia.  I’m not saying it was free blowing because there was a good resistance there.  By responsive I mean that there seemed to be a quicker time between my manipulation of the sound and then a change in the sound.  It seemed almost instantaneous which is what you want as a musician.

• Intonation:

Intonation was great with this mouthpiece and within normal limits.

• Control:

This was a very easy mouthpiece to play and control. As you can hear from the recording, I was comfortable playing fast on this mouthpiece.  No problems what so ever with larger intervals or fast runs.  It was also very easy to bend and manipulate the notes.  One of my favoite aspects of this mouthpiece was playing with vibrato.  It just seemed very responsive and I could feel that when using vibrato.  If you listen to the clip maybe you can hear that.  Sometimes I feel like the vibrato I’m using is just laying on top of the sound.  With this mouthpiece it felt like the vibrato and movement was within the sound.  It seemed easier to control and hear to me.

• Volume:

This wood Gaia could get too a nice FF volume.  It wasn’t as loud as the Amma,Kali or Durga.  I had the sense that it wasn’t as loud as the hard rubber Gaia.  It was plenty loud for most playing situations though.

This is another great mouthpiece by Theo Wanne. For more information on the Kali mouthpiece visit www.theowanne.com .  This is my last Theo Wanne alto mouthpiece review for today.  Now I have to go back and play them all again to see which one I like the best!

Theo Wanne Kali HR Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

• Appearance:

The Kali mouthpiece looks fantastic. The tip, rails and table look great.  The baffle looks higher and longer than the Gaia and Amma mouthpiece.  The baffle rolls into the large chamber smoothly and evenly.  It comes with a gold “Enlightened” ligature as well as the other Theo Wanne accessories I talk about in my other reviews.

• Tone:

Brighter than the Gaia and Amma but it’s not as bright as the Durga or the metal Kali in my opinion.  To me, this sounds slightly brighter and more focused  than the Gaia and Amma models.  Like the Gaia and Amma, I think this would be a great lead alto mouthpiece.  It’s on that brighter threshold of acceptance but I still think you can make it work easily enough by adjusting your playing to get the sounds you want.  A few times during the recording I felt like it was going thin up top.  The reed felt good on it but up high it gave me a feeling like it was a tad too soft.

• Intonation:

Intonation was great with this mouthpiece and within normal limits.

• Control:

This was a very easy mouthpiece to play and control. Theo really knows what he’s doing with his mouthpiece work. The fact that he can make all these different models that are so easy to play fast and in tune says something about his abilities.  This mouthpiece plays a bit smoother for me than the metal Kali and Durga.  I tend to think this is because of the hard rubber but maybe I’m imagining it……….

• Volume:

Loud!  I had to back up a couple of feet and even then I clipped the levels a couple of times in the recording. This isn’t as loud as the Durga or the metal Kali but it’s close. You could easily pull back on this piece and play some straight ahead jazz on it. It’s a little bright for that but you can make it work if that’s the sound you want. Lot’s of players love that brighter sound on alto…………….

This is another great mouthpiece by Theo Wanne. For more information on the Kali mouthpiece visit www.theowanne.com .

Theo Wanne Kali Metal Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece

• Appearance:

Beautiful as all the Theo Wanne mouthpieces are.  The tip and rails are perfect.  The gold brushed finish is gorgeous. It comes with the built in ligature, leather bag, reed replacer cap, screwdriver and extra ligature tone plate. The craftsmanship is excellent.

• Tone:

Brighter than the Gaia and Amma but it’s not as bright as the Durga.  As I write this, I’m listening to the clip again.  The tone is brighter and has a metallic ring to the sound.  In the clip I try to play a variety of styles so you can hear how it sounds on each. To me this sounds like a brighter more focused mouthpiece than the Gaia and Amma models.

• Intonation:

Intonation was great with this mouthpiece and within normal limits.

• Control:

This was a very easy mouthpiece to play and control.  Theo really knows what he’s doing with his mouthpiece work.  The fact that he can make all these different models that are so easy to play fast and in tune says something about his abilities.

• Volume:

Through the roof.  I had to back up a couple of feet and even then I clipped the levels a couple of times in the recording.  This isn’t as loud as the Durga but it’s close.  You could easily pull back on this piece and play some straight ahead jazz on it.  It’s a little bright for that but you can make it work if that’s the sound you want.  Lot’s of players love that brighter sound on alto…………….

This is another great mouthpiece by Theo Wanne. For more information on the Kali mouthpiece visit www.theowanne.com .