For the last couple of weeks, I have been diligently working through a great new book by Eric Allen entitled Body and Soul — The Evolution of a Tenor Saxophone Standard: Transcriptions and analysis of solos by: Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Stan Getz, Sonny … Brecker, Chris Potter, Spiral-Bound Book Body and Soul — The […]
Reviews
Forestone Hinoki Synthetic Reeds Review
Today, I am reviewing a product that I never ever thought I would review. The product is a synthetic reed. (*Before you read further, I need to state in all honesty, that I have always hated, detested and scorned every synthetic reed I have ever tried. Over the last 20 years I have at times tried […]
Liu Shizhao Studio Prototype Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
About a month ago, I was on Facebook just browsing through peoples posts when I came upon some beautiful pictures of some mouthpieces I had never seen before. These were posted by Liu Shizhao who lives in Beijing, China and who makes mouthpieces. Judging from the pictures I saw, these were masterfully made mouthpieces! […]
The Dick Oatts Solo Collection Review
Today I am reviewing an awesome new transcription book of solos by alto saxophonist Dick Oatts. Dan Bayliss wrote the transcriptions and did the work of putting this ebook together. It includes 9 solos from 3 albums and is 68 pages long. The CD’s the solos are from are Dick Oatts “Standard Issue Volume […]
Johannes Gerber Solo LC Soprano Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing another great mouthpiece by Johannes Gerber in South Africa. Mr. Gerber has been making mouthpieces for many years and I reviewed a tenor mouthpiece of his a few years ago. The Gerber Slant model. Johannes Gerber has a great reputation amongst sax players as well as craftsman for his excellent work […]
Liu Shizhao MB Prototype Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
In todays modern world, you see new products popping up on the internet almost everyday. About a month ago, I was on Facebook just browsing through friend’s posts when I came upon some beautiful pictures of some mouthpieces I had never seen before. These were posted by Liu Shizhao who lives in Beijing, China and apparently […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Vandoren V16 T7 Medium Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Today, I am reviewing a new metal tenor saxophone mouthpieces made by Vandoren. This mouthpiece is the Vandoren V16 T7 Medium Chamber model. I have been dying to try this mouthpiece since first hearing about it a few years ago. I used to play a Vandoren V16 T75 back about 12 years ago but was always curious how […]
Bejamin Allen Dagradi Model Tenor Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing two more hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpieces from Benjamin Allen. These are the 20TD model (also known as the Dagradi model after the great sax player Tony Dagradi). Benjamin Allen was nice enough to send me 3 Dagradi mouthpieces to try and today I am reviewing two of those for you. (The 3rd one […]
Ken Okutsu High Baffle Tenor Mouthpiece Review
Today, I am reviewing my first hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Ken Okutsu in Japan. It is the high baffle model and has an 8 tip opening which is .110. I hadn’t heard of Ken Okutsu before but he emailed me asking if I would be willing to try his mouthpieces. I of course […]
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