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Reviews

The Lighthouse Omnibook-Dave Liebman and Steve Grossman Review

July 22, 2016 by Steve 9 Comments

Today’s review is about a great transcription book by Petter Wettre entitled “The Lighthouse Omnibook”.   This book has been sitting on my shelf for a few years but I was reminded of it the other day when John Greiner (a great tenor player that I played with at Berklee in different ensembles) mentioned the […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Dave Liebman, Elvin Jones, Live at the Lighthouse, Omnibook, saxophone, Steve Grossman, Transcriptions

Sax Mouthpiece Reviews and Morality

July 22, 2016 by Steve 80 Comments

Ok,  so this might seem like a strange title for a blog post but I have an issue that I need some insight and input on from my Neffmusic readers.  Here’s the issue and then I will pose some questions at the end. Mouthpiece Reviews and Morality:   Nine years ago I started what is […]

Filed Under: Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: ethics, morality, opinion, reviews, saxophone mouthpieces

Retro Revival New Yorker Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

July 16, 2016 by Steve 22 Comments

Today, I am reviewing the new Retro Revival New Yorker alto saxophone mouthpiece made by Joel Peskin (iReedMan) and Bob Sheppard.  Joel  and Bob have started a company called Retro Revival in which he produces exact copies of great vintage mouthpieces from the past.   His first two mouthpiece releases were for this New Yorker alto […]

Filed Under: Alto Medium Baffle Reviews, Alto Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: alto sax, Brothers, Joel Peskin, New York Meyer, New Yorker, Retro Revival, review, saxophone mouthpiece

Bill Evans Signature Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

July 9, 2016 by Steve 58 Comments

Today, I am reviewing the new Bill Evans Signature Series Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece.  Now, before I go further I must add a disclaimer: Warning: This is one the most expensive mouthpieces on the market that I know of right now. (1695.00 US) If you do not want to be tempted by a mouthpiece that you can’t […]

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: bill evans, Guardala, jazz saxophone, review, sax mouthpiece, tenor saxophone

Westcoast Sax MoFo Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

June 18, 2016 by Steve 12 Comments

Today, I am reviewing the Westcoast Sax “MoFo” tenor saxophone mouthpiece.  Now, not being hip to the newest slang and terminology, I had to ask my teenagers what MoFo meant.  My daughters told me “Mofo” stood for mother-f*****, someone who is bad-a** or hard core.  My first thought was “Why would someone name a saxophone […]

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Mofo, review, saxophone, tenor mouthpiece, Theo Wanne, Wescoast Sax

Liu Shizhao Pilgrimage MB Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

June 9, 2016 by Steve 22 Comments

A month or two ago,  I posted a review of a couple new saxophone mouthpiece from Liu Shizhao out of China.  He sent me a tenor saxophone mouthpiece prototype MB Prototype and an alto prototype that I was very impressed with and wrote reviews on. Recently,  he has sent me two more saxophone mouthpieces to review that […]

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews Tagged With: Guardala, jazz sax, Liu Shizhao, Michael Brecker, Pilgrimage, review, tenor mouthpiece

Lamberson J7 1920 Hard Rubber Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

June 4, 2016 by Steve 22 Comments

In an effort to mix things up a bit,  I am now reviewing a new J7 tenor saxophone mouthpiece made by Fred Lamberson. Earlier this week, I reviewed the Ted Klum London model tenor mouthpiece which was probably one of the loudest and brightest mouthpieces I have played but now I turn my attention to […]

Filed Under: Tenor Low Baffle Reviews Tagged With: 1920 hard rubber, dark tone, Fred Lamberson, J7, sax mouthpiece, tenor saxophone

Rafael Navarro “Bob Mintzer” Bop Boy Tenor Mouthpiece Review

June 4, 2016 by Steve 20 Comments

Today I am reviewing another great mouthpiece by Rafael Navarro.  This is a hard rubber “Bob Mintzer” Bop Boy model.  I have reviewed most of Rafael Navarro’s tenor models in the past.  In the beginning,  he was kind enough to send me a bunch to review but after a while he started getting busier as his […]

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews Tagged With: Bob Mintzer, Bop Boy, hard rubber, Rafael Navarro, sax mouthpiece, tenor saxophone

Ted Klum London Model Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

June 1, 2016 by Steve 13 Comments

Today’s review is of a very used Ted Klum London model tenor saxophone mouthpiece that a friend of mine was nice enough to let me try.   Ted Klum is a great sax mouthpiece maker and refacer who has a great reputation among saxophone players.   His site is www.tedklummouthpieces.com.   It has been quite […]

Filed Under: Tenor High Baffle Reviews Tagged With: high baffle, London Model, sax mouthpiece, Ted Klum, tenor saxophone

Snake Oil for the Saxophone? The Buzz Oversized Neck Screw by Westcoast Sax

April 13, 2016 by Steve 50 Comments

Whether you are into competitive sports, weight loss, golf or the saxophone, you have probably heard claims about products that you didn’t believe. Many times I refer to these claims and products with a term you have probably heard before: “Snake Oil”.  The definition of the term is : “Snake oil is an expression that originally […]

Filed Under: Sax Reviews, Saxophone Stuff Tagged With: Buzz, oversized, sax screw, sound, tenor saxophone, tone, westcoast sax

Joe Allard Overtone Exercise for Saxophone

April 7, 2016 by Steve 9 Comments

I wanted to share this great saxophone Overtone exercise that Dr. David Demsey wrote out a number of years ago.   Dr. Demsey studied with Joe Allard from 1977-1980 and is the Coordinator of Jazz Studies and Professor of Music at William Paterson University. There is a great interview with Dr. Demsey about Joe Allard that any of you […]

Filed Under: Saxophone Stuff Tagged With: altissimo, David Demsey, education, Joe Allard, overtones, PDF, sax, saxophone

Saxquest “The Core” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

March 5, 2016 by Steve 15 Comments

Today, I am reviewing the new “The Core” hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Saxquest. Mark Overton over at Saxquest came out with two new hard rubber tenor sax mouthpieces a few months ago called “The Bridge” (hand faced by Eric Falcon) and “The Core” (hand faced by James Bunte). Mark said that the purpose  behind making these […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Core, jazz sax, Mark Overton, mouthpiece, Saxquest, tenor saxophone

Saxquest “The Bridge” Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review

March 4, 2016 by Steve 12 Comments

Today, I am reviewing the new “The Bridge” hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Saxquest. Mark Overton over at Saxquest came out with two new hard rubber tenor sax mouthpieces a few months ago called “The Bridge” and “The Core”. Mark said that the purpose  behind making these two mouthpieces was to try to recapture the sound and […]

Filed Under: Tenor Medium Baffle Reviews, Tenor Mouthpiece Reviews Tagged With: Bridge, early babbitt, EB Link, saxophone mouthpiece, Saxquest, tenor sax

A Blast from the Past-Chromazone by Mike Stern Cover

March 2, 2016 by Steve 4 Comments

This weekend, I was going through my vast computer files and trying to clean out the gigabytes of junk I had on my computer when I discovered this old clip. This is from a recording session I did way back in the early 90’s.  I think I was about 25 at the time and in […]

Filed Under: Saxophone Stuff Tagged With: Chromazone, cover, Mike Stern, steve neff, tenor saxophone

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Testimonials

After reading your story I will never feel quite right about complaining about any of my MINOR health issues!!    God bless Steve and I really hope that your health doesn’t stop you from fulfilling your calling.    These books have been such a help to open up my jazz vocabulary…   Thanks so much for sharing your story and for providing these great teaching tools…   John Leclerc   Saxophonist / composer/ EWI player and professional working musician of 35 years….

John Leclerc

Thank You Steve. I think that I will be busy for years. Thank You for your great contribution to jazz music. Your books, more than teaching “how to play jazz”, actually teach “how to speak jazz”. I wish I found your methods years ago.  

Jean-Eric
I’ve been having ‘ online’  lessons with Steve for a few months now. Being a teacher myself I had had some reservations with the idea at first and the practicalities of it .  Let me just say that my playing has taken a huge leaps forward while studying with Steve and continues to do so.Steve studied with some renowned player/teachers such as Bergonzi and Garzone– this in itself is invaluable but Steve teaches from his own books, which cover a a vast amount of  jazz language. Steve h… Read more
David
I’ve been downloading your lessons for 4 months now (20 lesson) and I have noticed tremendous growth in my playing thus far! I’m so happy that I stumbled upon your site!
Bob

I must say again how much I appreciate all your material. Including the video tutorials. It help keep me focused and knowing what to aim for. And your laid back teaching style appeals to me too. 

Thanks

P

P
It is so refreshing to have a great player, who can provide lessons and examples in a manner which is understandable to most any enthusiastic saxophonist who is ready to improve. not just the, do this, do that, memorize this, memorize that… while all that is absolutely necessary, you go on to give reasons and examples to explain and validate why you have to do all of these things, the benefits, if you will… that is the key for me, you tell, explain, demonstrate, explain some more, you give perso… Read more
Cedric
Hi Steve, I have been shedding your materials for quite a while now and I love them! They are extremely well organized and presented and there are tons of ’em! I really appreciate your methodical approach and find myself referring students to your resources often.  Thanks so much!  
Kenyon Carter
For anyone living in remote areas away from live jazz sax teachers, Neff is the way to go. In fact this is a great resource for anyone seriously interested in mastering the sax. I’ve never been disappointed in a lesson.
Oliver
I have NEVER seen material like yours.  Amazing!!
Jerry
First, I’m really excited about your materials! This site is a vast resource for any aspiring (and maybe already inspired) jazz musicians. I’m not a sax player, I play mandolin and fiddle, but have been learning jazz and playing weekly with a quintet for the past 6 months and have been struggling with all of the issues you get into in your lessons. I bought several books and lessons and plan to continue with some others as soon as I organize my practice routine. Thanks again for a great site … Read more
Tony Galfano
I have been a member of Neffmusic for more than a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have not only been going thru the Dominant Bebop Scale lessons and book (OUTSTANDING!) but the mouthpiece reviews, solo clips and transcriptions are very interesting. Steve approach to beginning and intermediate improv have given me many new pathways to teach my high school jazz ensemble students. Congratulations Steve, great product!
Craig
I want to let you know that your instructional material is transforming my playing.  It is an immense pleasure to learn and play now, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. The instructional material I got from you is by far the best of any I own (and I have over 100 books, DVDs, and what not). I literally can’t thank you enough! Deric
Deric
Two years later I began a search for a sax teacher and happened to come across Steve Neff when I was searching YouTube for sax teachers.  I went to neffmusic.com and was very impressed with the lessons Steve Neff was offering.  The concept of selecting lessons was an approach that I thought was unique and purchased a few lessons.  I liked the lessons so much that I signed-up for a 6 month package. I was very happy with all the lessons I selected.  I also purchased Steve’s book Mastering the B… Read more
Michael

I want to thank you again, because, not only are you an inspiration to listen to, you are a fine teacher!

I have been teaching sax and other winds for over 20 years, and you give me that “push” to give my students more!

Mark Peotter

Mark Peotter

I am enjoying your style of teaching, and you’ve done a great job with the videos….good sound quality and well constructed lessons.  Balances the more guitaristic material found on the majority of guitar based programs.  Jazz vocab is what I’m all about at this point in the journey.  I especially dig the fact that you’ve studied with Bergonzi…helps me see his voluminous output in a more bite sized way.

Milton

I want to thank you for your “Ultimate II-V-I Primer”  which has sent me off on a much better path to improvisation.  The primer and the four bound books I have will keep me busy for a long time.  I like your lessons for two reasons.  The lessons work and THEY ARE FUN.  Thanks again.

Robert

Robert

Hello Steve, I’m getting so much out of your lessons and books, amazing how much one may think one knows, there is always a new frontier or new way to view something you think you had somewhat down. You have taken it all to a new level and am so grateful. Your lessons are so down to earth and understandable and clear!  Thanks so much Steve! Cheers, Eddie

Eddie Parente

Never really had lessons before just kinda worked things out on my own. Was in a rut but your lessons are really helpful in opening melodic possibilities. Ur an awesome resource to the saxophone community. Thanks for sharing. 

Anthony

Hi Steve,

First, I want to thank you for all of your great lessons. They are like a “For Dummies” version of all the books on my shelf. The lessons break things down into manageable pieces, and give me the confidence that I’m practicing the right pieces. I’m starting to make progress.   Thank You,   Kim

Kim

Hello Steve,

I have not received my alto yet but have already gone through 14 lessons. I love your approach, style, knowledge and competence. I now regret so much to have stayed away from playing the sax for the past 45-50 years…(I am 65).  But It is never too late to get back to your first love. After 23 years in compuer sciences and 22 years in finances…I am now back to music for the rest of my life.

Doing some research on the net, I found this:

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?1… Read more

Claude
Thanks so much for putting all this great learning material out there. I don’t often have the time to take a lesson with a teacher, so the ability to download lessons is really invaluable. My playing has improved enormously (I think :)) – and the lessons are so varied there’s always something to be inspired by. Incredible value too!
Roger
I like so many other subscribers feel so encouraged by Steve’s learning techniques; you will enjoy reading the comments of praise others have left as you too will feel that you share a common view and path. I feel very lucky to have come across Neffmusic and that feeling will remain with you as you search through a treasure trove of learning materials on offer, you will quickly find the lessons that you are suited to. You will instantly recognize the unparalleled quality of Steve’s teaching … Read more
Stephen

Hello Steve,

I just want to say thank you so much for your unbelievable work, it is just mind opening, thanks for sharing it.

Wolfgang from Berlin

Wolfgang from Berlin

Steve,  Just want to say thanks for all you are doing for all of us. I’ve learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.

If you can give some tips on One Note Samba, Ceora, and Wave… that would be cool.  I really like learning how you apply your concepts to actual songs!

Have a great year,

Kevin Ledbetter

I've learned more from you than anyone else in my 40 years of playing.

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