Joe Allard (December 31, 1910 – May 3, 1991), a native of Lowell, MA,was a famous saxophone and clarinet professor at Juilliard, The New England Conservatory and The Manhattan School of Music. Some of his most famous students were: Michael Brecker, Eddie Daniels, Bob Berg, Dave Liebman, Paul Winter, Steve Grossman, Kenneth Radnofsky, Bill Pierce and many many others.
Joe Allard was a world renowned woodwind teacher. I have heard his name mentioned countless times but I was never lucky enough to take a lesson with him or hear him teach. I just found these 4 videos on youtube of him teaching some of his concepts to a former student of his. I haven’t even watched all of them yet but I wanted to get them up here for you to enjoy and learn from. I’m going to go watch them right now. I’m so excited!!!! Enjoy!
Thanks for posting these. I first saw them when they came out in the late 1980s, and was really helped by them. They were especially useful in helping me better understand how to find the right amount of tension to produce an optimum sound. To this day I still incorporate many of these ideas in my own practice and with my students. My friend, Bennie Wallace (a rather formidable tenor player) also studied with Joe. He told me that he (and many of the great saxophonists who studied with Joe) don’t necessarily agree with all of his ideas, but have the greatest respect for him. BTW, I love your Blog. You very generously post a lot of useful info. Thanks!