Here’s a great interview with Chris Potter that I came across just now on Facebook. Chris Potter is one of the top tenor saxophone players in the world. There is an unbelievable solo performance in the beginning of the video and this is a very insightful interview. Chris talks about practicing and different aspect of […]
Donny McCaslin Blues Solo in 4ths Transcriptions
Here are 2 more solo transcriptions I started working on yesterday. This is from a clinic recording of Donny McCaslin demonstrating using fourth intervals while improvising over a standard blues on the tenor saxophone. I have no idea what this is from or even where I got it but it must have been on the […]
Viking M58 and M60 Valkyrie Cognac Tenor Saxophone Review
Today, I am reviewing the Viking M58 and M60 tenor saxophones. This is another great saxophone that is manufactured in Taiwan. I had been hearing about the Viking tenor saxophones for a few years now and have been very curious to try them out. Rich Maraday is the owner of Viking instruments and he was happy to […]
Bob Mintzer Blues Solo Transcription in 12 Keys
Here’s another solo transcription I just finished this week. This is another solo from one of my favorite tenor sax players, Bob Mintzer and is from a youtube clip of Bob soloing on a blues in all 12 keys. I love Bob’s playing because it is so melodic and thematic. He always plays ideas that […]
Bob Mintzer’s Solo Transcription on Invitation
Here’s another solo transcription I started working on a few weeks ago. This is 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 […]
Bob Malach Solo Transcription from Ishimori Demo Video
Here’s another transcription that I worked on this week. This is from a video that Bob Malach put out on Youtube about Ishimori products. Bob talks for the first part of the video about his Ishimori ligature, neck, screws and thumbrest. On the second half of the video he plays a nice funky solo over […]
Bob Mintzer Solo on “I Love You”
Here’s a solo transcription I started working on a few weeks ago. This is 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 […]
The Real Jazz Solos Book Review
Today, I am reviewing a new transcription book titled “The Real Jazz Solos Book”. This is another great book by Hal Leonard that is filled with great jazz solo transcriptions. Unlike many other transcription books, The Real Jazz Solos Book has transcription from a variety of different musicians including as far back as Louis Armstrong […]
Saxophone Microphone Review and Audio Shootout Part 2
Walter Ruckdeschel wrote a great in-depth review of 8 different stand mounted microphones that can be used for live gigs a number of months ago. I was so fascinated that I asked him if I could post his finding here for everyone to see. Walt emailed me today and said that he had just completed […]
D’Addario Select Jazz Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
Today, I am reviewing a new mouthpiece from D’Addario called the Select Jazz alto saxophone mouthpiece. I heard about the D’Addario Select Jazz model from a friend of mine who ordered one from Sax Quest and was blown away by it. His email and raves were enough to rouse my curiosity and review one of […]
RS Berkeley Legends Dexter Gordon Tenor Sax Mouthpiece
Today, I am reviewing another RS Berkeley Legends 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 we […]
Phil-Tone Rift Alto 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, etc…………… Phil came out with this new alto sax mouthpiece a […]
Great George Garzone Masterclass
Here’s a recently posted masterclass by the great jazz teacher and tenor saxophone player George Garzone. I studied with George for a semester or two while at Berklee back in the mid 80’s. I remember him messing up my whole musical worldview by telling me to not tongue and stop playing licks. ( I had […]
The Real Latin Book Review
Anyone who has been following my blog for awhile knows that I can be a bit of a nut when it comes to Real Books. I love getting new tunes that I have never played and trying them out on gigs. Sometimes when I do a duo gig for a cocktail hour the piano player […]
Great Branford Marsalis Interview
Here’s a great Branford Marsalis interview that I just watched on SOTW (Sax on the Web). I thought this interviewer did a great job! A lot of what he said about classical music as compared to jazz really it home with me. In college, I was so stressed to play a classical piece, it had […]
ReedJuvinate Woodwind Reed System Review
Today, I am reviewing a product called the ReedJuvinate Woodwind Reed System. As a woodwind player, you are probably already aware of what a pain reeds can be to keep and store. How do you best store them? I’m always curious about the different ways people store their reeds when not in use. I’ve seen […]
Rigotti Gold Reed Strength Comparison
Today, I thought it would be interesting to write a reed strength comparison article on my blog. I was trying a new Phil-Tone Mosaic 7* tenor mouthpiece this morning with different strength Rigotti Gold reeds when I had the idea to record some clips and throw it up on the site to see what some […]
Phil-Tone & Theo Wanne Mosaic Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece (Updated)
(Update: this original Mosaic review was of a prototype Mosaic mouthpiece but since the review Phil has tweaked and I think improved the original design of the Mosaic mouthpiece. He has been kind enough to send me a new model to try. I am updating this review and sound clip for the new production model.) […]
2013 Thelonious Monk Jazz Saxophone Competition
I wanted to share this video that is on Youtube of the 2013 Thelonious Monk Saxophone competition. I first heard of the Thelonious Monk competition in the early 90’s. I believe the competition started out in the late 80’s as a piano competition and then started including other instruments in the early 90’s. 1991 was […]
Reed Placement Poll
I thought it would be interesting to run a poll to see where everyone places their reeds on the mouthpiece when setting up. I know many of you will think this is nonsense and you might assume that we all do this the same but I have had so many students come in my studio […]
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