I received this question in an email the other day and I thought it would be good to try to answer it in detail on the blog here so others can benefit from it: Question: Steve, I have always listened to jazz, but I tend to favor simpler, lyrical playing like Houston Person, Gene Ammons, […]
Wilton Felder’s Street Life Solo Transcription
Here’s another great solo transcription from John Blevins. John has graciously sent me a number of his transcriptions this last week and given me permission to share them with the sax world on my site here. This is a great sax solo by Wilton Felder who was the cofounder of the Crusaders. The tune is Street […]
Benjamin Allen Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing another mouthpiece made by Benjamin Allen. I have reviewed a number of Benjamin Allen’s tenor mouthpieces which were all fabulous in my opinion. I now have in front of me a Benjamin Allen prototype of an alto mouthpiece that he has been working on. This is not the finished product but rather a “prototype” […]
Ken Okutsu High Baffle Mouthpiece Alto Saxophone Review
Today, I am reviewing my fourth hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpiece from Ken Okutsu in Japan. It is the High Baffle model and has a 7 tip opening which is .079. I already reviewed four Okutsu tenor mouthpieces which were all excellent so I have been very curious to review these alto mouthpieces as well. Four New Ken Okutsu Alto Saxophone […]
Ken Okutsu Traditional II Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing my third hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpiece from Ken Okutsu in Japan. It is the Traditional II model and has a 6 tip opening which is .075. I already reviewed four Okutsu tenor mouthpieces which were all excellent so I have been very curious to review these alto mouthpieces also. Four New Ken Okutsu Alto Saxophone […]
Ken Okutsu Focus Core Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing my second hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpiece from Ken Okutsu in Japan. It is the Focus Core model and has a 6 tip opening which is .075. (In the sound clip below I mistakenly say it is a Focus Tone but that was a mistake on my part…….sorry Ted Klum…….) I already reviewed […]
Ken Okutsu Traditional Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing my first hard rubber alto saxophone mouthpiece from Ken Okutsu in Japan. It is the Traditional model and has a 6 tip opening which is .075. I already reviewed four Okutsu tenor mouthpieces which were all excellent so I have been very curious to review these alto mouthpieces also. Four New Ken Okutsu Traditional Alto Sax […]
Bob Mintzer Solo Transcription – You and the Night and the Music
Here’s a solo transcription I started working on this week. This is another solo from one of my favorite tenor sax players, Bob Mintzer. I love Bob’s playing because it is so melodic and thematic. He always plays ideas that you can grasp on to and that are catchy, yet he mixes in some pretty hip and […]
Joel Frahm “All the Things You Are” Tenor Sax Transcription
Here’s another solo by another great tenor saxophone player and incredibly nice guy, Joel Frahm. Joel has commented on neffmusic.com quite a few times over the years and his passion for everything to do with the saxophone is very obvious. (I imagine we could spend a few hours in a bar talking about mouthpieces very easily……..) […]
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown transcription of Tenor Sax Dexterity Solo
Today I am sharing a transposed part to a solo transcription done by Joey Lieber (pianist). Joey shared this tenor saxophone transcription on Facebook in C last week and I wanted to transpose it to Bb for tenor saxophone ASAP as this was a very cool solo…….. This transcription is of a solo that Chad Lefkowitz-Brown […]
Jesse Davis Transcription-Cherokee Solo
Here’s another great bop solo by one of my favorite alto players “Jesse Davis”. Jesse has one of the best alto sounds I have heard and I love how he can incorporate killer bebop lines and phrases with a bluesy feel and sound. (Another master of this technique was without a doubt Cannonball) Here’s a […]
Free Video Lesson on Approach Note Velocity Book
I decided to offer a free video lesson on my book “Approach Note Velocity Volume 1 & 2” for everyone. I have sold many of these books over the years and really want to make sure that everyone is getting the most out of them that they can. You can consider this an “overview” lesson on […]
Ken Okutsu Traditional Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing my third hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Ken Okutsu in Japan. It is the Traditional model and has a 7 tip opening which is .104. ( I call it a 7* tip in the recordings below because .104 is close to the traditional 7* size). I already reviewed my first two Okutsu mouthpiece […]
Ken Okutsu Traditional II Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing my second hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Ken Okutsu in Japan. It is the Traditional II model and has a 7 tip opening which is .104. ( I call it a 7* tip in the recordings below because .104 is close to the traditional 7* size). I hadn’t heard of Ken Okutsu before but […]
RS Berkeley Chris Potter Legends Series Tenor Sax Mouthpiece
Today, I am reviewing another RS Berkeley Legends Series tenor saxophone mouthpiece that was sent to me by Les Silver at RS Berkeley. RS Berkeley has come up with the revolutionary idea of trying to find mouthpieces that were played and loved by jazz legends (deceased and still living)………and then copying them exactly so that […]
10mFan Robusto Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Mark Sepinuck, 10mFan as he is known in the saxophone world, has been selling high end vintage saxophone mouthpieces on Ebay for years. Whether it be vintage New York Meyers, Double Ring Otto Links or handmade Guardala mouthpieces…………Mark has had them all and sold them all. I met Mark years ago on ebay when I […]
AM Mouthpieces “The Aras” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a new tenor saxophone mouthpiece made by Arnold Montgomery of AM Mouthpieces. It is “The Aras” model and has an 8 tip opening. I hadn’t heard of Arnold Montgomery before but he emailed me asking if I would be willing to review his “The Aras” mouthpiece. He hinted that there was something unique about it that he was getting […]
Three Michael Brecker Transcriptions on Four Chords by Steps Ahead
We are in for a treat today! I contacted Rick Margitza (a great tenor saxophone player) on facebook the other day and asked if I could share his two transcriptions of Michael Brecker’s solos from two Steps Ahead bootlegs of Four Chords. I came up with the idea of placing these two transcriptions along side my […]
Michael Brecker Tenor Sax Solo Transcription-Four Chords
Here’s another new transcription I have been working on. This is Michael Brecker’s 5 chorus solo over the tune “Four Chords” from the album Paradox by Steps Ahead. This is young Michael Brecker tearing it up with some high energy classic “Brecker” lines. The Paradox album is one of the many Steps Ahead albums that I purchased back […]
Vandoren V16 T7 Large Metal Tenor Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a new metal tenor saxophone mouthpieces made by Vandoren. This mouthpiece is the Vandoren V16 T7 Large Chamber V16 model. This is similar to the T7 medium chamber I reviewed a few days ago but this mouthpiece has a larger chamber. Vandoren V16 T7 Large Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Here are some quotes from the Vandoren […]
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