Today, I am reviewing “From the Inside Out” by Dr. Mark Watkins that is published by Outskirts Press. “From the Inside Out” is a revolutionary in-depth 309 page resource book for the development of saxophone sound. When this book is described as “in-depth”, Dr. Watkins is not joking! It is 309 pages of descriptions, scientific […]
Saxscape Florida Slim Profile Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a Saxscape Florida Slim Profile 7** (.108 tip opening) tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces recently sent me to try out and perhaps review. Earlier this year, I reviewed a Saxscape Live model tenor sax mouthpiece as well as a Saxscape Fat Cat Classic and Downtown MB1 tenor […]
Saxscape Downtown MB1 Slim Profile Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a Saxscape Downtown MB1 8* (.115) slim profile tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces recently sent me to try out and perhaps review. Earlier this year, I reviewed a Saxscape Live model tenor sax mouthpiece as well as a Saxscape Fat Cat model tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I […]
Macsax Queso Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a Macsax Queso 8* tenor saxophone mouthpiece (formerly the FJ IV model). I was contacted by Jeff Gjertsen at Macsax earlier this year and asked if I would be willing to review the brand new line of Macsax tenor saxophone mouthpieces. Of course, I was excited to try these beautiful mouthpieces […]
Buyer Beware! Counterfeit Vintage Saxophone Mouthpieces Galore
Disclaimer: If you bought a vintage mouthpiece in the last few years off of Ebay then this article might not be good news for you. If you would rather not know……then do not continue to read…… A friend of mine reached out to me a few weeks ago and was excited to share the good […]
Macsax Soco Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a Macsax Soco 8 tenor saxophone mouthpiece (formerly the FJ III model, I reviewed an original FJ III 8 years ago!). I was contacted by Jeff Gjertsen at Macsax earlier this year and asked if I would be willing to review the brand new line of Macsax tenor saxophone mouthpieces. Of […]
Saxscape Fat Cat Classic Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a Saxscape Fat Cat Classic 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Ken Barry at Saxscape mouthpieces recently sent me to try out and perhaps review. Earlier this year, I reviewed a Saxscape Live model tenor sax mouthpiece that I thought was superb and when Ken asked if I would like to review […]
Doug Webb Swingin’ Rhythm Changes Tenor Sax Solo Transcription
Here is a great solo by the tenor saxophone player Doug Webb. Doug is a fantastic tenor player from the west coast (Los Angeles area). I own a bunch of his albums including a Christmas CD entitled “Home for Christmas” which is my go to Christmas music when my family wants Christmas music but I […]
Morgan Excalibur Indiana Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a Morgan Excalibur Indiana model tenor saxophone mouthpiece made by Erik Greiffenhagen, at Morgan mouthpieces. Morgan mouthpieces used to be owned by Ralph Morgan who sadly passed away in 2007. Ralph worked designing instruments and mouthpieces for Selmer for many decades and in the early 80’s started his own mouthpiece company […]
The Rhythm Book-Crossrhythms on 4/4 by Rory Stuart Review
Today, I am reviewing “The Rhythm Book-Crossrhythms on 4/4” by Rory Stuart that is published by Rhythm & Dues. Rory Stuart has written a great beginning book for those of you who want to understand rhythm and notation in a deeper way that I reviewed as well as an intermediate book of more advanced concepts […]
RPC Gold Series 110B Ultem Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
I sadly found out that Ron Coelho passed away on 12/24/19. We had a long conversation in October before this review was posted. Even though I only talked to Ron a couple times over the years, this last conversation was like talking to a good friend. We talked about everything you could think of having […]
The Rhythm Book-Rhythmic Development and Performance in 4/4 by Rory Stuart Review
Today, I am reviewing “The Rhythm Book-Rhythmic Development and Performance in 4/4” by Rory Stuart that is published by Rhythm & Dues. Rory Stuart has written a great beginning book for those of you who want to understand rhythm and notation in a deeper way that I reviewed as well as an intermediate book of […]
Can You Hear a Difference Poll? Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
This blog post is a follow up to my “Does the mouthpiece material make a difference? Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison” post. I am purposefully not putting a link to that article because I don’t want anyone to cheat. I will write it again, please do not cheat! The purpose of this […]
Drake Phil Woods Master Series Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a Drake Master Series Phil Woods alto saxophone mouthpiece made by Aaron Drake at Drake mouthpieces. This alto mouthpiece is advertised as “a near identical replica of the mouthpiece that Phil Woods played for over 40 years.” Don’t worry about the wording of “near identical”, this does not mean it is […]
Does the mouthpiece material make a difference? Theo Wanne Gaia 3 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Comparison
This blog post is about the age old question “Does the material a saxophone mouthpiece is made of make a difference?” I have read hundreds, if not thousands of discussions on this subject since my earliest days on the internet in the 90’s. Many of these online discussions would get quite heated with one side […]
SYOS Godwin Louis Signature Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing the Godwin Louis 6* alto saxophone mouthpiece from a fairly new company called SYOS mouthpieces in France. This company hit the saxophone mouthpiece scene not too long ago and immediately caught the world’s attention by producing these really bright colored 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces made of plastic. I must admit, that […]
Swingin’ Phil Woods Stolen Moments Alto Sax Solo Transcription
Here is a swingin’ alto saxophone solo by the great alto sax player Phil Woods. Someone posted this recording on Facebook earlier this month and I was blown away when I heard it as I had never heard this Phil Woods recording before. I have been playing a Drake Phil Woods model alto saxophone mouthpiece […]
Retro Revival Tru-Slant Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing another Retro Revival tenor saxophone mouthpiece called the Tru-Slant. This is a tenor sax mouthpiece modeled after the Otto Link Slant Signature hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpieces from the 60’s. These tenor saxophone mouthpieces are made by Joel Peskin (iReedMan) and Bob Sheppard at Retro Revival. In the past I have […]
Gottsu Sepia Tone Jazz Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing a tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Gottsu mouthpieces in Japan. I had received some emails from a few different fans of my site who were impressed with the Gottsu sax mouthpieces they had played and I decided to reach out to the Gottsu company and see if I could review some of […]
A Key to Jazz Improvisation Success: Boredom and Repetition
Here’s a great article that a fan of my site emailed to me a few months ago. Although the article is dealing with the martial arts, the principles written about in this essay can just as easily be applied to music and jazz improvisation. When the writer writes about “kata” imagine that he is referring […]
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