This is a Dave Liebman masterclass from 2/7/15 in Nashville at the studio of Jeff Coffin. I’m watching it right now as I post this but am so amazed at how deep and insightful this is that I feel I have to post it immediately. I’m at the 60 minute mark and have to […]
Transcription of Danny Janklow’s Solo on Night and Day
Ok, so I’m going a little nuts with these Facebook “Jam of the Week” solo transcriptions. The truth is I love hearing some of these new young players on the scene posting their solos. There is something raw and courageous about letting it all fly on a video clip for all to see that is exciting. […]
Transcription of Clay Pritchard’s Solo on Cherokee
Here’s a transcription that Steve Kortyka did of a Clay Pritchard solo over Cherokee on the video below. You might not have heard of these guys yet but Steve Kortyka is a great New York player that plays with Lady Gaga among many others and Clay Pritchard was a semi-finalist from the 2013 Monk Competition. Steve […]
Transcription of Jeff Ellwood’s Solo on Freedom Jazz Dance
Here’s another transcription from the Jeff Ellwood “School of Outness”. This is from another video of Jeff that I found on Facebook a couple of months ago and put in my transcription folder of cool solos I had to one day transcribe. The video below is Jeff Ellwood playing a tenor sax solo over “Freedom Jazz […]
Transcription of Jeff Ellwood’s Solo on Just the Two of Us
Here’s another transcription I am excited about sharing with everyone. I found the video on Facebook this morning and proceeded to play it over and over until my wife got annoyed at me and said “Steve, it is 6:30 in the morning! What are you doing?” “Sorry, honey.” I replied. That was how my day started………. […]
The Sax Mouthpiece Doesn’t Matter! Really??
Today, I am reviewing a garden hose. Ok, not really but I might as well be. Every week, I get emails saying: The mouthpiece doesn’t matter, you will sound like you no matter what mouthpiece you play…… Charlie Parker could play anything…….. You sound the same on every mouthpiece. It’s you not the mouthpiece….. You […]
New Release-Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale-Book 2
I just finished a brand new Neffmusic book that I am very excited about. I’ve been working on this off and on over the last seven years and more intensely over the last eight months. In the years following my release of “Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale”, I decided that a “Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale-Book 2” […]
Joe Graziosi’s Soul Station in all 12 Keys Project
Every once in a while I happen upon something extraordinary that bewilderingly gets little to no attention from the jazz saxophone world. A number of months ago, Joe Graziosi started a thread on SOTW (Sax on the Web) letting people know about a new project that he had been working on over the last three years […]
Phil-tone JZ Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing another great mouthpiece by Phil Engleman at Phil-Tone mouthpieces. Phil Engleman is the founder of Phil-Tone mouthpieces and I have reviewed a number of his excellent mouthpieces in the past. The Equinox, the Eclipse, the Solstice, the Tribute, the Sapphire, the Mosaic, the Rift etc…………… Phil has even more models that […]
Johannes Gerber NY Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing another great alto sax mouthpiece by Johannes Gerber in South Africa. Mr. Gerber has been making mouthpieces for many years and I have reviewed three of his mouthpieces in the past, the Gerber Slant model , the Gerber Solo LC soprano saxophone mouthpiece and last week the Gerber Vintage alto sax mouthpiece. […]
Johannes Gerber Vintage Alto Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing another great mouthpiece by Johannes Gerber in South Africa. Mr. Gerber has been making mouthpieces for many years and I reviewed a great tenor saxophone mouthpiece of his a few years ago, the Gerber Slant model as well as the Gerber Solo LC soprano saxophone mouthpiece last year. Johannes Gerber has […]
Morgan Excalibur 7M Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a Morgan Excalibur 7M alto saxophone mouthpiece made by the Morgan Mouthpiece Company. Dave and Teresa Hoskins run MorganMouthpieces.com as well as Junkdude.com and they were kind enough to send me a sample of the Morgan Excalibur 7M alto sax mouthpiece to review on my site. When I first started really getting into […]
Saxophone Lessons in Montpelier Vermont
Jazz Saxophone Lessons in Montpelier Vermont! I’ve just finished setting up my teaching studio in Montpelier, Vermont. If you live near the Montpelier Vermont area, are in the U32 High School or the Washington West Supervisory Union and are interested in saxophone lessons I am now accepting new students. Montpelier is the Vermont state capital […]
History of the Saxophone Video by Ben Flocks
I had to share this! Saxophonist Ben Flocks has made a video that takes us through 150 years of saxophone history in about 10 minutes! This was posted on Youtube in 2014 but somehow I have missed it for the last two years. This is not a boring lecture but a musical performance where he […]
Just Joe’s Sax Gel Strap Review
I want to start this review out with a big apology to Joe Rohrbacher of Just Joe’s Music in Bend, Oregon. Joe sent me a couple of complimentary Just Joe’s Sax Gel Straps to try out and perhaps review almost 5 YEARS AGO!! This was around the fall of 2011 and at the time I was having a […]
Chris Potter Interview/Performance with Christian McBride
Another great interview and performance by the great saxophone player Chris Potter. This was recorded from Christian McBride’s SiriusXM radio show “The Low Down”. The interview is fascinating and Chris has such a humble and real honesty about him that it is like he’s in your living room talking to you. At the 7:45 mark […]
The Lighthouse Omnibook-Dave Liebman and Steve Grossman Review
Today’s review is about a great transcription book by Petter Wettre entitled “The Lighthouse Omnibook”. This book has been sitting on my shelf for a few years but I was reminded of it the other day when John Greiner (a great tenor player that I played with at Berklee in different ensembles) mentioned the […]
Sax Mouthpiece Reviews and Morality
Ok, so this might seem like a strange title for a blog post but I have an issue that I need some insight and input on from my Neffmusic readers. Here’s the issue and then I will pose some questions at the end. Mouthpiece Reviews and Morality: Nine years ago I started what is […]
Retro Revival New Yorker Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing the new Retro Revival New Yorker alto saxophone mouthpiece made by Joel Peskin (iReedMan) and Bob Sheppard. Joel and Bob have started a company called Retro Revival in which he produces exact copies of great vintage mouthpieces from the past. His first two mouthpiece releases were for this New Yorker alto […]
Bill Evans Signature Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing the new Bill Evans Signature Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece. Now, before I go further I must add a disclaimer: Warning: This is one the most expensive mouthpieces on the market that I know of right now. (1695.00 US) If you do not want to be tempted by a mouthpiece that you can’t […]
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