This blog post is about the age old question “Does the material a saxophone mouthpiece is made of make a difference?” I have read hundreds, if not thousands of discussions on this subject since my earliest days on the internet in the 90’s. Many of these online discussions would get quite heated with one side […]
SYOS Godwin Louis Signature Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing the Godwin Louis 6* alto saxophone mouthpiece from a fairly new company called SYOS mouthpieces in France. This company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene not too long ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces made of plastic. I must admit, that […]
Swingin’ Phil Woods Stolen Moments Alto Sax Solo Transcription
Here is a swingin’ alto saxophone solo by the great alto sax player Phil Woods. Someone posted this recording on Facebook earlier this month and I was blown away when I heard it as I had never heard this Phil Woods recording before. I have been playing a Drake Phil Woods model alto saxophone mouthpiece […]
Retro Revival Tru-Slant Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing another Retro Revival tenor saxophone mouthpiece called the Tru-Slant. This is a tenor sax mouthpiece modeled after the Otto Link Slant Signature hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpieces from the 60’s. These tenor saxophone mouthpieces are made by Joel Peskin (iReedMan) and Bob Sheppard at Retro Revival. In the past I have […]
Gottsu Sepia Tone Jazz Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Gottsu mouthpieces in Japan. I had received some emails from a few different fans of my site who were impressed with the Gottsu sax mouthpieces they had played and I decided to reach out to the Gottsu company and see if I could review some of […]
A Key to Jazz Improvisation Success: Boredom and Repetition
Here’s a great article that a fan of my site emailed to me a few months ago. Although the article is dealing with the martial arts, the principles written about in this essay can just as easily be applied to music and jazz improvisation. When the writer writes about “kata” imagine that he is referring […]
SYOS Tivon Pennicott Signature Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing another tenor saxophone mouthpiece from a fairly new company called SYOS mouthpieces in France. This company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene not too long ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces made of plastic. I remember thinking they were strange looking […]
10mFan Generation II Robusto Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a new tenor saxophone mouthpiece from 10mFan sax mouthpieces. This is a generation II Ultem Robusto 7** orange tenor saxophone mouthpiece. (Yes, I wrote “orange”!) I reviewed a first generation hard rubber Robusto 7** tenor sax mouthpiece a few years ago that I still have in my collection of favorite tenor […]
SYOS Chad Lefkowitz-Brown Signature Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a tenor saxophone mouthpiece from a fairly new company called SYOS mouthpieces in France. This company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene not too long ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces made of plastic. I remember thinking they were strange looking […]
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Hard Rubber Tenor Mouthpiece Review
I was excited to hear that Theo Wanne was releasing a new tenor saxophone mouthpiece called the Gaia 3 a few months ago and asked Theo if I could review it. I had reviewed the original Gaia tenor saxophone mouthpiece back in 2009 and it was one of the best tenor saxophone mouthpieces I had […]
Up Close and Personal Interview with Steve Neff on Everything Saxophone Podcast
If any of you are interested in my background and views on a variety of subjects related to music, the saxophone and life, I was interviewed by Donna Schwartz for the “Everything Saxophone Podcast” a couple of weeks ago. Donna asked some great questions and we were able to discuss some personal subjects having to […]
Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
I was excited to hear that Theo Wanne was releasing a new tenor saxophone mouthpiece called the Gaia 3 a few months ago and asked Theo if I could review it. I had reviewed the original Gaia tenor saxophone mouthpiece back in 2009 and it was one of the best tenor saxophone mouthpieces I had […]
Swingin’ Max Ionata “Home At Last” Tenor Sax Solo Transcription
Here is another killin’ solo by the great tenor saxophone player Max Ionata. I absolutely love this solo and have probably listened to it a hundred times this morning. Part of what I love about the solo, is watching Max on the video. He is playing this killin’ perfect tenor sax solo but he looks […]
Video Tour of The Michael Brecker Archive at William Paterson University
Louis Gerrits creator of the site michaelbreckerliverecordings.com posted a link to a video tour of the Living Jazz Archives at William Paterson University which includes the Michael Brecker Archive on Facebook this morning. I posted about this great archive in the past here: Michael Brecker Archive Article. The Michael Brecker part of the video tour […]
New NY Meyer Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Compared to a Vintage NY Meyer Alto Sax Mouthpiece Review
Since I recently wrote a review for a new NY Meyer (2019) alto saxophone mouthpiece as well as a vintage NY Meyer (1960’s) alto saxophone mouthpiece, I thought it would be interesting to do a side by side review of these two great alto saxophone mouthpieces side by side. These are from the “mouthpiece fun […]
Westcoast Sax High Roller Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a new alto saxophone mouthpiece called the High Roller from Westcoast Sax. Matt Lee at Westcoast Sax was nice enough to send me a sample High Roller alto sax mouthpiece to try out. This metal alto sax mouthpiece is a high baffle mouthpiece with an 8 tip opening which is a […]
Vintage New York Meyer USA 4M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Refaced By Jimmy Jensen Review
Today, I’m lucky to be able to play and review a vintage New York Meyer medium chamber alto saxophone mouthpiece. Jimmy Jensen at Tenor Madness was nice enough to send me what he called a “mouthpiece funbox”. This was a box of special and unique mouthpieces that Jimmy thought I might find interesting. Among the […]
GetaSax Echo Master Brilhart 3-Band Style Saxophone Ligature Review
I received an email a couple of months ago from a fan of the site asking if I could review these new Echo Master ligatures (formerly Echo Brass) being sold by Getasax.com. These are reproductions of the infamous Brilhart 3-band ligature that Kenny Garrett uses. I have been curious about these ligatures ever since I […]
The Boston Sax Shop Black Box Custom Tenor Saxophone Reeds Review
Today, I am reviewing a new BSS custom saxophone reed released by Jack Tyler at the Boston Sax Shop. Jack has been my repairman for the last six years and always gives me the inside scoop on new saxophone gear that is coming out. Besides being a phenomenal repairman and craftsman, Jack is always up […]
Brand Spankin’ New Florida Otto Link Metal 100th Anniversary Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
A few weeks ago, I reviewed a new 100th anniversary model Florida Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpiece by JJ Babbitt that I found out after the fact was refaced by Jimmy Jensen at Tenor Madness. I decided to proceed with the review anyways with the hopes that I would soon get a brand new JJ […]
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