• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Website of Steve Neff

  • BLOG
  • SHOP
  • MY ACCOUNT
  • RAVES
  • CONTACT

Search Neffmusic

You are here: Home / Transcriptions / Danny Walsh Tenor Sax Solo Transcription of Wave

Danny Walsh Tenor Sax Solo Transcription of Wave

January 16, 2019 by Steve 12 Comments

Here’s another great saxophone solo transcription from a Youtube video that I started working on this morning.   This is another great solo from the terrific tenor sax player, Danny Walsh (I’ve already transcribed a couple other solos by him). Danny Walsh is an amazing NYC saxophone player that  many people may not know about but is definitely worth checking out!  Here is a short bio of him taken from the description of the Youtube video below:

A world-class saxophonist, composer and performer Danny Walsh is regarded as one of the most gifted and versatile recording artists in the jazz and R&B circuits. During the course of his career, he has not only recorded, performed and toured with many jazz, R&B and classic rock luminaries, but continues to be involved as a clinician at colleges and universities throughout the nation. Upon graduation from The Berklee School of Music, Danny was immediately hired by Aerosmith. Soon after he secured more opportunities with the Mingus Dynasty Big Band, Mike Stern, Greg Allman, Phil Woods, Mulgrew Miller, Marcus Miller, Bruce Springsteen, Donald Brown, Terruo Nakamura and many others. In this broadcast, he is joined by a group of other gifted musicians: Emiko Ohara on keyboard, Rob Reich on guitar, Eric Halvorson on drums, Chris Berger on bass and the lovely Anastasia Rene as a guest vocalist. A very special night for all!

Danny Walsh-Tenor Saxophone

This whole gig, in the Youtube video below, sticks out to me because the setlist is primarily tunes we would all play on a typical gig.  Cold Duck Time, Wave, Our Love is Here to Stay, The Way You Look Tonight, Masquerade, etc…….  I find it fascinating to hear a player of Danny’s calibre playing these common tunes that we probably have all played on gigs and just tearing them to shreds.  The other thing that I love is how effortless Danny looks while soloing on the sax.  He’s playing these intense lines but looking like he’s playing Mary Had a Little Lamb or something.  Not a drip of sweat or sign of effort, it just seems like it is flowing out of him effortlessly.   I love that!

If you have never heard of Danny Walsh before, check out his CD and any future projects he plays on!

Full Gig Video-Wave Solo starts at 9:59

The entire solo is only one chorus long but it is action packed!   The whole solo follows this format: Beautiful melodic line, killin’ 16th note line, beautiful melodic line, killin’ 16th note line, beautiful…….You get the point!  Thanks Danny for another great solo!!  Enjoy!  Let me know what you think in the comments below…….

https://cdn.neffmusic.com/2019/Wave-Danny%20Walsh%20Solo.mp3

Wave-Danny Walsh Solo Clip

Wave Solo Bb-Danny Walsh
Wave Solo C-Danny Walsh

*If you would like to support me here at neffmusic.com, you can do so on the support page of my store by debit or credit card.   Any support is appreciated and will go towards keeping this site running, saxophone reeds, mouthpiece patches, coffee, and towards justifying the many hours I spend on providing free transcriptions to the saxophone community!  Thanks,   Steve

It’s a couple days later and just to blow your mind, I had to complete this transcription by transcribing Danny’s solo on the ending vamp of this tune (It’s at 15:42 on the video but be prepared, the lines are so intense that you might need therapy after hearing them….) I’ve also included an audio cut below but watching the video is even better. The PDF is another four pages of soloing but well worth it! Check it out below……..

https://cdn.neffmusic.com/2019/Wave%20End-Danny%20Walsh.mp3

Wave Ending Vamp-Danny Walsh Solo

Wave Ending Vamp Solo Bb-Danny Walsh
Wave Ending Vamp Solo C-Danny Walsh

*If you would like to support me here at neffmusic.com, you can do so on the support page of my store by debit or credit card.   Any support is appreciated and will go towards keeping this site running, saxophone reeds, mouthpiece patches, coffee, and towards justifying the many hours I spend on providing free transcriptions to the saxophone community!  Thanks,   Steve

This is Danny Walsh’s last recording.  Check it out!!

Danny Walsh “Entering In” Itunes

Danny Walsh “Entering In” CD Baby

DevastatingFrontCoverSmallAdDevastating Minor Lines for Jazz and Funk Soloing

Devastating%20Dominant%20Front%20Cover%20PDFsupersmallDevastating Dominant Lines for Jazz & Funk

If you like these types of modern lines like I do, be sure to check out my jazz video lessons and books for some great resources!  Here are just a few on a variety of modern improvisation topics.  I have 11 jazz improvisation books out now and over 600+ 30-40 minute video and audio lessons to choose from……..   Steve

Modern Improv

  • Altered Dominant Substitutions-Lesson 1
  • Altered Dominant Substitutions-Lesson 2
  • Altered Dominant Substitutions-Lesson 3
  • Chord Substitution Lesson 2-The Tritone Lesson
  • Chord Substitutions-Lesson 1
  • Devastating Minor Lines Lesson 1
  • Devastating Minor Lines Lesson 2
  • Devastating Minor Lines Lesson 3
  • Devastating Minor Lines Lesson 4
  • II-V-I Altered Scale Mastery-Lesson 1
  • Minor Chord Substitution Lines Lesson
  • Minor ii-7b5-V7b9 Substitution Lesson 1
  • Modern Minor 6th Pentatonic Lines Lesson
  • Playing Outside-3 Tonic Chromaticism Lesson
  • Playing Outside-4 Note Pentatonic Cells Lesson
  • Playing Outside-Altered Pentatonics Lesson 1
  • Playing Outside-Chromaticism 1 Lesson
  • Playing Outside-Random Note Lesson
  • Playing Outside-Shifting Pentatonics Lesson
  • Playing Outside-The Major Minor Blues Scale Lesson 1

Here’s some reviews:

  • I’ve been downloading your lessons for 4 months now (20 lesson) and I have noticed tremendous growth in my playing thus far! I’m so happy that I stumbled upon your site!
  • I have been shedding your materials for quite a while now and I love them! They are extremely well organized and presented and there are tons of ‘em! I really appreciate your methodical approach and find myself referring students to your resources often.  Thanks so much!
  • I’ve been a member of Steve’s site for about six months now and the difference it has made to my playing is immeasurable. The (many) benefits of this membership are that you can have lessons at time convenient to you, they work out A LOT cheaper than face-to-face lessons with a teacher of the same calibre and you can replay them ad infinitum. I don’t know how many times have I had lessons in the past where I’ve ended up covering the same concepts when really a ‘replay’ of the last lesson would have been fine! I’m not on commission here – just wanted to write a review to encourage people to do this. Without doubt the most time and cost effective investment I’ve made in taking my playing to where it should be…Cheers Steve.

 

Filed Under: Transcriptions Tagged With: Danny Walsh, Improvisation, jazz sax, Jobim, solo, tenor saxophone, transcription, Wave

Steve

About Steve

Steve Neff has been playing and teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation around the New England area for over 30 years. He is the author of many best selling jazz improvisation methods as well as founding the popular jazz video lesson site Neffmusic.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarHoward Brown says

    January 17, 2019 at 6:39 pm

    Hey Steve,
    You know I’m a huge Danny Walsh fan. He’s playing the Saxscape Live on this clip. Of course he knows harmony inside and out, but he told me when he plays those lines (amazing lines) he’s just hearing it and not thinking about chords so much. He makes it look easy. A few months ago my phone rang and caller ID said it was Danny. I answered it and it was him playing Tequila on some gig. He must have butt called me. I listened to him for about half an hour, it was pretty funny.

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      January 17, 2019 at 11:57 pm

      Howard, That is pretty funny about the phone call. That’s one call I wouldn’t mind getting with Danny ripping over Tequila. Hahaha!!

      Reply
  2. AvatarMike Wilkens says

    January 18, 2019 at 4:00 pm

    Nice!
    And a little Jimi Hendrix quote right there at the end.

    He has a very sophisticated harmonic ear. Great to hear those patterns employed in such a clear forward moving way.

    Thanks for posting!

    Reply
  3. AvatarMartin Hoff says

    January 20, 2019 at 5:10 pm

    I’ve seen him a lot in the last few years because he plays 2, 3 night a week in NYC so quick train ride from NJ. Every night is a lesson for me. Nice flute player and singer as well.

    Martin

    Reply
  4. AvatarRich Winkler says

    February 2, 2019 at 3:39 pm

    Steve,
    Great job transcribing. I enjoyed very much. Question – what software did you use to create the PDFs ?
    The tunes “She” and “The Chicken” would also be great to see.

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      February 2, 2019 at 3:43 pm

      Rich, I use Finale to create the transcriptions. Are “She” and “The Chicken” on that same Danny Walsh video or are you talking about another recording? Steve

      Reply
      • Avatarrsaxman62 says

        February 2, 2019 at 3:46 pm

        Steve – they are on the same video.

        _____

        Reply
        • SteveSteve says

          February 2, 2019 at 4:12 pm

          Which tune is “She”? I don’t know that tune……..

          Reply
          • Avatarrsaxman62 says

            February 2, 2019 at 4:44 pm

            He announces “She” by George Shering at 42:55 and “The Chicken” at 54:50

            _____

            Reply
  5. AvatarCharlie says

    June 17, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    Ok obviously late to this thread but I’ve seen him live with Mike Stern. Currently they are in Chicago and Danny is just killing it.

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      June 17, 2022 at 4:04 pm

      Lucky man! I would love to see Danny live with Mike Stern! I have to settle for random Youtube clips….

      Reply
  6. AvatarRobert Blackwell says

    February 25, 2023 at 2:46 am

    I’m so looking forward to seeing and hearing Danny in the flesh again next month 16/03/23 @ Birds Basement here in Melbourne “Downunder”. The last time I saw him live was at an Italian Restaurant by the name of Michael’s at Manasquan ? or Brielle ?N.J in 1998. My Partner Katie and I were living in Point Pleasant Beach and spent the whole year working in the U.S.A. I met and spoke with Danny that night and found him charming as I’m a Saxophonist myself. One tune he played that night that just blew me away was “Europe” which is played with so much emotion by Gato Barbieri. I was lucky to see Gato, also that year on a Jazz Cruise from South Pier around Manhattan. Also that year Frank Sinatra died. But The stand out Memory for me was listening to Danny that night. A truly amazing and brilliant Player A true Maestro on Tenor, Alto and Soprano Saxophones!!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Rich Winkler Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Steve Neff

Cart


NEFFMUSIC PRINTED BOOKS

Testimonials

I bought Steve’s dominant bebop book and took a couple of online lesson from him. I really appreciated Steve’s careful listening of what I wanted to get done in a lesson and his clear, concise ideas on next steps to improve my playing and musical interpretation.  His mastering  the Dominant Bebop Scale has lots of exercises to use a scale that addresses the largest percentage of chords I come across in pop/blues music. The dominant V7.  Needless say it has improved my playing.  I teach and a… Read more
Keith
I just started looking at my lessons and I have to say, dude you are awesome.  I ABSOLUTELY will learn from you!  I started the tenor about 1 ½ yrs ago and have since picked up an alto, and more recently a soprano.  I spend most of the time on the tenor, followed by soprano, and have only gotten to the alto a few times.  I think I’ll be sticking with tenor.  I’m having a great time and hope one day to play well enough to get regular gigs.  I’ve been playing keys for about 35 years (… Read more
Wil
I just joined Neff Music last month. I can’t tell you how excited I’ve been to be able to pick back up on lessons. I’ve been in a rut and you got me out! I’ve especially appreciated the Lesson Path section. It was so clear I knew exactly where to jump in and start. Many many thanks!
Karin
Hey Steve! I hope you and your family are well.  I’m just writing to say thank you so much for all the resources you have made available to the saxophone community. I have been using your material for many years and I always come back to it… in fact I just took a break from practicing to write this…( reviewing “CreatingModern II-V-I Lines with simple pentatonics”.) I am, and continue to be, one of your raving fans! Blessings to you and your family this holiday season! Wishing… Read more
Gerry Aylward

Steve,  Just want to say thanks for all you are doing for all of us. I’ve learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.

If you can give some tips on One Note Samba, Ceora, and Wave… that would be cool.  I really like learning how you apply your concepts to actual songs!

Have a great year,

Kevin Ledbetter

I've learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.

Love your lessons!  I have been using your lesson packages for many months now, and am learning a lot.  It is so perfect for me with a very busy adult schedule and difficulty in taking jazz/improv music lessons from reputable instructors who live and hour or more away from me.

Lenore
Your lessons on playing the blues is so clear . I have been through many books on blues playing and not one of them explains as clear as your lessons . Most of them say “Play the same blues scale over all three chords of a 12 bar blues ” Its very misleading .     Thanks
Martin

Hello Steve,

I have not received my alto yet but have already gone through 14 lessons. I love your approach, style, knowledge and competence. I now regret so much to have stayed away from playing the sax for the past 45-50 years…(I am 65).  But It is never too late to get back to your first love. After 23 years in compuer sciences and 22 years in finances…I am now back to music for the rest of my life.

Doing some research on the net, I found this:

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?1… Read more

Claude

After reading your story I will never feel quite right about complaining about any of my MINOR health issues!!    God bless Steve and I really hope that your health doesn’t stop you from fulfilling your calling.    These books have been such a help to open up my jazz vocabulary…   Thanks so much for sharing your story and for providing these great teaching tools…   John Leclerc   Saxophonist / composer/ EWI player and professional working musician of 35 years….

John Leclerc

Never really had lessons before just kinda worked things out on my own. Was in a rut but your lessons are really helpful in opening melodic possibilities. Ur an awesome resource to the saxophone community. Thanks for sharing. 

Anthony
Hey Steve, I’m a 22-year-old from Australia. I thought it would be worth saying. You’re an absolute legend. I can’t thank you enough. You have helped me rekindle my love for the saxophone and music as a whole. All the best for the future, your work doesn’t go unnoticed. PS. I am loving your devastating minor lines pdf.
Sapph
Hi Steve, I can’t express just how much I appreciate your teaching. My playing has improved so much over the past year since I have been studying and practicing with your lessons. It is possible to teach an old dog new tricks, these lessons are proof! Thanks, Michael Byington
Michael Byington

Hi Steve,

First, I want to thank you for all of your great lessons. They are like a “For Dummies” version of all the books on my shelf. The lessons break things down into manageable pieces, and give me the confidence that I’m practicing the right pieces. I’m starting to make progress.   Thank You,   Kim

Kim
I would like to say that in the last year my sax playing has progressed loads from your lessons. I have had a sax for about 20 years and dabbled with lessons from a few teachers and have learnt very little from them. As you have said in your lessons many teachers tell you to use the blues scale and leave it there, not even showing you the resolution points!!. I am now believing I can in time become a good improviser.
Thanks again,
Shane
Shane
I am enjoying your style of teaching, and you’ve done a great job with the videos….good sound quality and well constructed lessons.  Balances the more guitaristic material found on the majority of guitar based programs.  Jazz vocab is what I’m all about at this point in the journey.   I especially dig the fact that you’ve studied with Bergonzi…helps me see his voluminous output in a more  bite sized way.
Milton

I want to thank you again, because, not only are you an inspiration to listen to, you are a fine teacher!

I have been teaching sax and other winds for over 20 years, and you give me that “push” to give my students more!

Mark Peotter

Mark Peotter
It is so refreshing to have a great player, who can provide lessons and examples in a manner which is understandable to most any enthusiastic saxophonist who is ready to improve. not just the, do this, do that, memorize this, memorize that… while all that is absolutely necessary, you go on to give reasons and examples to explain and validate why you have to do all of these things, the benefits, if you will… that is the key for me, you tell, explain, demonstrate, explain some more, you give perso… Read more
Cedric
Hey Steve, My name is Jason Freese and I play keyboards and sax in the band Green Day.  I grew up taking sax lessons from Eric Marienthal when I was a kid and got out of it for a long time. I ran into you on youtube while searching for sax stuff. I bought a whole bunch of your lessons and have been loving it! Thanks! Here is my wikipedia so you can see the albums I’ve played on….Thanks again. It’s sparked my interest in practicing again.   Jason
Jason Freese (sax player for Green Day)
I have NEVER seen material like yours.  Amazing!!
Jerry
Just a brief note to compliment you on your teaching skills and in particular for the honesty of your lessons.  I am a returning alto sax player in my 50’s and I was looking for a no nonsense, straight to the point kind of guidance. I had intended to email you with a few questions regarding the use of the bis key but then I noticed that there was a lesson on that specific topic and after viewing it,  all my questions were answered. I once took a group lesson with a well known professional sax … Read more
Patrick
Steve’s monthly lessons are entirely valuable. Without brow beating, he tells you all the stuff you deep down know you really should be working on, instead of just relying on the same old patterns. In spite of the fact that you’re taking a video lesson, Steve’s presentation is comfortable and “real”. In a little more than a year, he’s developed a library of lessons that seem to offer any player a lifetime’s worth of practice material. I’m just glad I stumbled upon it.… Read more
Grant
I’ve been a member of Steve’s site for about six months now and the difference it has made to my playing is immeasurable. The (many) benefits of this membership are that you can have lessons at time convenient to you, they work out A LOT cheaper than face-to-face lessons with a teacher of the same calibre and you can replay them ad infinitum. I don’t know how many times have I had lessons in the past where I’ve ended up covering the same concepts when really a ‘replay’ of the last lesson would h… Read more
Nick
Absolutely the best learning experience in my 40 years of playing.These books are awesome!!
Alfred LaBella
Thank you so much for the great job you are doing to help further our jazz studies. Though I make my living as a repairer of musical instruments I am a student of jazz and have been fortunate enough to be involved with a big band and a combo for the last several years. As my children began to leave “the nest” I had decided to dedicate the next half of my life to a more serious study of the sax but I didn’t know exactly how I would go about doing this until a friend of mine turned me onto your si… Read more
Jon

Featured Video Lessons

  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $19.99 Original price was: $19.99.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.
  • The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor $9.99
  • Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson
    Rated 4.91 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Secret to Altissimo (no one has ever told you about before) Lesson The Secret to Altissimo (no one has ever told you about before) Lesson
    Rated 4.75 out of 5
    $9.99

Now over 600 video and audio lessons to choose from!

Free Lessons

  • Free Lesson on The New Ultimate II-V-I Primer-Major Keys
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering Altered Pentatonics
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering the Blues Scale Volume 1 & 2
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale and Language Book 1 & 2
  • Free Video Lesson on Approach Note Velocity Book

Recent reviews

  • Bebop Scale-Altered Scale II-V-I Practice Lesson Bebop Scale-Altered Scale II-V-I Practice Lesson by Noah
  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) by Andy
  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Russ
  • Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Timothy
  • The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Ray Holland

Footer

Recent Comments

  • Steve on BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Steve on BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Tom on BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Jay Metcalf on BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Jack on BetterSax Burnin’ Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

Top rated products

  • Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
  • Tune of the Week-Softly as a Morning Sunrise Lesson Tune of the Week-Softly as a Morning Sunrise Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1 The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Invitation Tune of the Week-Invitation
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99

Product tags

alto sax alto saxophone approach notes audio lesson bebop scale beginner beginner saxophone blues blues licks blues patterns blues scale blues scales diminished scale dominant chords ear training fundamentals II-V-I improvisation jazz improvisation jazz lines jazz patterns jazz sax jazz saxophone jazz standard jazz standards licks Mastering the Blues Scale Michael Brecker modern improv modern improvisation online lesson patterns playing outside practice habits reading music sax basics sax lessons saxophone scales smooth jazz steve neff tenor sax tenor saxophone video lesson video lessons
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • SUPPORT

Neffmusic © 2005–2025