This is a Theo Wanne hard rubber Gaia 8 alto saxophone mouthpiece. Theo was kind enough to send me a big box of mouthpieces to try out and I spent all morning playing and recording them. I already put up a clip of a Gaia 6 alto mouthpiece a couple of weeks ago. This one […]
Great Hal Galper Masterclass Videos
Here are some great clips from youtube of a Hal Galper masterclass. Hal Galper is a great piano player who has has played with many of the jazz legends. I came to know him from some Phil Woods albums I had growing up. These are great to watch a number of times. Hal is such […]
MacSax Empyreal Alto Saxophone
Today, I’m reviewing the MacSax Empyreal Alto Saxophone. This sax is manufactured in Taiwan for the MacSax company in Austin Texas. This is the Unlacquered Finish model. It looks like bare brass which gives it a cool vintage look. I am told that the brass is subjected to a gas treatment that gives it a […]
What Difference Does the Saxophone Ligature Make? Part 2
In part one of this blog post on “the differences a ligature can make” I talked about the difference a ligature can make to a saxophone player from his or her perspective. (For those of you who don’t know, the ligature is the device that holds the saxophone reed to the mouthpiece) How it can […]
Drake Vintage Resin NY Jazz Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
Yesterday, I received a box from Aaron Drake at Drake Mouthpieces. I couldn’t open it fast enough. Inside were 3 brand new vintage resin alto saxophone mouthpieces for me to try. I’ve been wanting to try these for months now and I was very excited. This is the second mouthpiece I tried of the three. […]
Drake Vintage Resin Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
I thought I’d put up a comparison post of the three Drake vintage resin alto saxophone mouthpieces I received today. I will be doing a separate review for each mouthpiece but I thought that if I played a simple melody on all 3 next to each other you could hear the differences better. On these […]
Drake Vintage Resin Contemporary Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
I’m starting to get overwhelmed by how many great mouthpieces are out there today. This morning I received a box from Aaron Drake at Drake Mouthpieces. I couldn’t open it fast enough. Inside were 3 brand new vintage resin alto saxophone mouthpieces for me to try. I’ve been wanting to try these for months […]
Warburton Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece by Eric Falcon
This is a Warburton soprano saxophone mouthpiece made by Eric Falcon. This is one of the best soprano mouthpieces I have had the pleasure of playing. It plays effortlessly and has a big fat soprano sound to it. The first day I played on it, I actually recorded a few lessons with it because I […]
Theo Wanne Gaia 6 Hard Rubber Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is another great mouthpiece by Theo Wanne. This is a Gaia 6 alto saxophone mouthpiece that came with a Macsax alto that I’m trying out (more on that later). This sax mouthpiece has a nice baffle in it as you can see from the pictures. The baffle slopes down into the chamber and is […]
Warburton Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is a new Warburton alto saxophone mouthpiece. These are made by Eric Falcon who is a top notch mouthpiece refacer. This mouthpiece has an .080 tip opening. I consider it to have a brighter sound but still fat sounding. It’s a bit fatter sounding than the PT Meyer that I put up yesterday. There […]
Meyer Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Refaced by Phil Engleman
This is a new Meyer medium chamber alto saxophone mouthpiece that is made by JJ Babbitt. If you have been an alto saxophone player for any length of time you will know the mouthpiece name “Meyer”. It is one of the most popular alto saxophone mouthpieces ever sold. When I was a kid, i remember […]
John Thomas Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Here we have a John Thomas tenor saxophone mouthpiece. I actually played this about a year ago but the recording has been sitting on my computer since. I totally forgot about it until this morning when I read a thread on “Sax on the Web” asking about John Thomas and his mouthpiece work. This mouthpiece […]
Eric Falcon Custom Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here is my review of a custom hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Eric Falcon made. A friend of mine sent me this to try with 2 metal links as well. This is an example of a great hard rubber mouthpiece. I actually have played this mouthpiece for about a week now and love it […]
Otto Link Super Tone Master Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Refaced by Eric Falcon
This is another Modern Otto Link Super Tone Master I received to try out. This one was originally a 7 tip (.100) but was refaced and oped up to a .110 by Eric Falcon. From what I understand Eric Falcon used to do mouthpiece work for Jody Espina of Jody Jazz. He now is refacing […]
Modern STM Otto Link Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Refaced by Brian Powell
This is a modern Super Tone Master Otto Link tenor saxophone mouthpiece. Everyone knows that buying a modern metal Otto Link is pretty much a roll of the dice. I remember going to a music store and trying 10 of them and not liking any of them. Many times over the years I have stopped […]
Frank Wess & Scott Robinson Tenor Saxophone Blues Up and Down
I’ve been listening to a bunch of different versions of “Blues Up & Down” lately. I love hearing two distinct tenor saxophone players going at it. Some people like to refer to this as a “battle”. They like to talk afterwards about who “won”. To me, those type of people need to grow […]
Pete Thomas PPT Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece 7* Review
This is a great mouthpiece from Pete Thomas over in the UK. I emailed him a few months ago because I was interested in trying one of his tenor mouthpieces. He was kind enough to send me this one. I’m not sure what it is made of but it looks pretty cool. It’s looks […]
“Live” Guardala Laser Trimmed Michael Brecker II Saxophone Mouthpiece
Here’s another live clip I dug out of my computer. This is a more mellow clip of a solo on the tune “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones. To be honest, I’m one for staying in the mood of the tune when I solo. I can’t stand it when I hear a slow ballad […]
“Live” Clip of a Yamaha WX-5 Harmonica Solo
I didn’t think I would ever do this but…………about once a month I get an email from someone asking if I can put up some sound clips and lessons on the Yamaha WX-5 wind controller. A Yamaha WX-5 is what is known as a wind controller. You blow air into and finger it just like […]
“Live” Solo on “What’s Going On”-Lamberson L7
Here’s another live clip I dug out of my computer. I have hundreds of these and every once in awhile I’ll go through and see what I can find. This is a clip of my saxophone solo on “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye at some event in Boston. As with most of these clips […]
Recent Comments