I’ll do my best in this next part of the story to recount things in the proper order. To be honest, the next few parts of the story are a little vague and cloudy in my memory. I remember meeting with a Doctor to have the talk you have before a major surgery. His name […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 7
Well………..where were we? Oh yeah, in Mass General Hospital, waiting for my next surgery. As I remember, it was 2-3 days later. They came to get me for the surgery and it was an emotional time. This was the big surgery where they were messing with my nerves, arteries and not to mention my […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 8
Ok, on with the story. If you’ve read parts 1-7 you know I’ve been through quite the ordeal so far. It’s over now. All that is behind me and I can move on. I can start living my life again and not worry about what’s wrong with me or what surgery I need next. This […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 9
Ok, I have my emotions contained again and can go on with my story……. After the neurosurgeon told me I couldn’t play the saxophone ever again, I think I was in shock. I didn’t know what to say or how to feel. After a short while, I started feeling this heavy feeling of sadness coming […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 10
In this next part of the story, we need to skip ahead a few years. Just so you are clear on the time line, I had the brain tumor symptoms from 1993-1995. I had the brain surgery in August of 1995. I had bacterial meningitis in August of 1996 (I actually had bacterial meningitis two […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 11
After the Proton Beam Radiation treatment I quickly jumped back into things. It was about a month later, that I was on a gig playing my sax when I got this excruciating pain in my jaw. I had to stop playing my solo and I just held my jaw for a second and then […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 12
Well, I’ve been putting this off long enough! To be honest, writing this part of the story is not something I feel very excited about. There are a few reasons for this. One, it’s not funny (well maybe a little funny). Two, it brings back some painful memories. Three, it doesn’t paint me in the […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 13
Hello again. No I didn’t die. I’m sorry for the delay with this chapter but every once in awhile I have a problem with tendonitis in my arms and have to take a break from typing for them to get better. I am feeling better now and can continue the story. OK, where was I………….. […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 14
After the events in Part 13, I started feeling like my regular self again. Life went on. We moved a few times and ended up in Southern New Hampshire. I have two more stories to share with you and then we’ll be done. Hopefully, there will be no more to tell in future stories although […]
As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 15
The next morning, our last day in Disney, I woke up to my kids talking to each other. I sat up in bed and just looked at them. There voices sounded normal. I couldn’t believe it. Matter of fact, I didn’t believe it. I put on the radio, it sounded normal. I was so excited […]
Drake Ceramic Small Chamber Soprano Mouthpiece
This is a new Drake ceramic soprano mouthpiece that I am trying out. This piece has a .065 tip opening and a small chamber. The mouthpiece plays with a nice focused tone. Much more focused sounding than the Drake large chambered mouthpiece. If you listen to both clips you can hear the difference between a […]
Drake Ceramic Large Chamber Soprano Mouthpiece
This is a another new Drake ceramic soprano mouthpiece that I am trying out. this piece has a .065 tip opening and a larger chamber in it than I have seen in other soprano mouthpieces. This mouthpiece plays with a big fat tone. Much more spread sounding than the Drake small chambered mouthpiece. If you […]
Selmer Super Session J Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is a sound clip of my main soprano saxophone mouthpiece for the last 6 years. It is a Selmer Super Session J mouthpiece that I bought from WWBW. At the time that I bought this, I also tried an I tip opening. I remember feeling like the I gave me a Kenny G type […]
Aizen LS Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is the new Aizen LS 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece. I have one of these for my alto saxophone that I love and am lucky enough to be able to try this tenor sax model. I’ve had it for 2 weeks and played it almost everyday. These are advertised as being copies of a vintage […]
Rick Margitza Solo-“What is this thing called love?”
Here is a great tenor sax solo that I transcribed a couple of years ago. It’s from Jeff Hellmer’s album “Peak Moments”. The tune is a standard called “What is this thing called love?” and features Rick Margitza on the tenor saxophone. “What is This Thing Called Love” a great standard by Cole Porter that […]
Practicing away from your instrument! Part 1
I had a lesson the other day with a student and I realized that he was really having a hard time coming up with melodic ideas and phrases. I asked him “Do you ever sing?” “No!” “How about humming?” “No!” “How about in the shower?” “No!” This really got me thinking about things […]
Great Story Involving the Band Green Day
About a month or so ago, I took my wife to a “Green Day” concert in Boston. She’s a big Green Day fan and it was around our anniversary…….. While we were there, lo and behold, the keyboard player picks up a saxophone and starts wailin’. Of course, my wife turns to me and asks […]
New “Vintage” Slant Otto Link Tenor Mouthpiece
This a “New” “Vintage” “Slant” Otto Link hard rubber tenor mouthpiece. There has been a lot of buzz about these lately. Babbitt has come out with these as a model that is comparable to the vintage slant signature hard rubber links everyone is paying big bucks for on ebay. Now I have to say, that […]
Greg Wier Indian Rubber 7* Tenor Mouthpiece
This another tenor mouthpiece made by Greg Wier. I asked Greg to make me a hard rubber tenor mouthpiece with a little more power than his slant piece I had played before. He said that he had a few blanks of “Indian Rubber” (I have no idea what that means, but it sounds good) He […]
Jon Van Wie’s Words On Mouthpiece Work
This was on one of the google forums back in the late 90’s. I never heard of Jon Van Wie or his work before this but reading this post you can sense the love, passion and focus he had for saxophone mouthpiece refacing. Soon after reading this, I sent Jon Van Wie a few mouthpieces […]
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