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 […]
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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Benjamin Allen 10E .135 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Today, I am reviewing another hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece from Benjamin Allen. It is another 10E model but this one is at a huge .135 tip opening. I have to admit that I have never played a .135 tip opening before. I usually start complaining that a tip opening is too wide when I hit […]
Mouthpiece Recording Test Survey
I have been experimenting lately with different recording distances and settings for my mouthpiece reviews. Usually, I record dry with no effects about 2 feet from the microphone. I’ve noticed that darker sounding mouthpieces can sound rich and beautiful in this setting but many times the brighter more powerful mouthpieces can sound harsh, shrill, edgy, […]
The John Coltrane Omnibook Review
*I posted all the recordings I could find on Youtube that go with this transcription book at the bottom of this review………Enjoy! Those of you who know me and my musical history know the impact the Charlie Parker Omnibook has had on me since I discovered it in High School many years ago. I was […]
Florida Double Ring Otto Link Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Today, I’m reviewing an old 1950’s Florida Double Ring Otto Link Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece. It was originally a 5 tip opening but was opened up to a 7 or .100 tip opening at some point. These Florida double ring mouthpieces were made in the 1950’s by the Otto Link company. This mouthpiece I have is […]
Barone Hollywood Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece 2000
Today, I am reviewing a mouthpiece made by Phil Barone. This mouthpiece is the Hollywood model and it was made back in 2000 so it is an older model. I have been a big fan of Phil Barone’s mouthpieces ever since I went to see Jerry Bergonzi play at the Acton Jazz Cafe years ago. […]
Bari Hybrid Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
Today, I am reviewing the Bari Hybrid tenor saxophone mouthpiece 7* (.105 tip opening). This mouthpiece has the gold band around it. It is called a “hybrid” because it is a mix of hard rubber and gold plated brass. The front part of the mouthpiece is all hard rubber but the shank and bore of […]
Bari Hybrid Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
Today, I am reviewing the Bari Hybrid alto saxophone mouthpiece 6 (.077 tip opening). This mouthpiece has the gold band around it. It is called a “hybrid” because it is a mix of hard rubber and gold plated brass. The front part of the mouthpiece is all hard rubber but the shank and bore of […]
Drake Pete Christieb Tenor Mouthpiece
This is a new hard rubber tenor saxophone mouthpiece by Aaron Drake. Aaron has started a new series of mouthpieces called the “Masters” series where he copies the favorite mouthpieces of the great players alive today. So far, he has made mouthpieces for Dave Liebman, Jerry Bergonzi and Pete Christlieb. I have been a fan […]
Rafael Navarro Bahia Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is a new metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece by Rafael Navarro. There has been a lot of “buzz” going on about the Navarro line of mouthpieces over the last few months. As of this review, Rafael has 3 models available for the tenor saxophone. The Maestra, the Bahia and the Bob Mintzer Bebop Special. All […]
Rafael Navarro Maestra Metal Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is a new metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece by Rafael Navarro. There has been a lot of “buzz” going on about the Navarro line of mouthpieces over the last few months. As of this review, Rafael has 3 models available for the tenor saxophone. The Maestra, the Bahia and the Bob Mintzer Bebop Special. All […]
Aizen Gold JazzMaster Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
This is a new Aizen Gold JazzMaster tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I received in the mail a couple of weeks ago. It is a 7* tip opening which is a .105. If you follow my blog regularly, then you will already know that I have reviewed a number of Aizen hard rubber mouthpieces for the […]
Metal Freddie Gregory Mark IV 8 Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece
I received this tenor sax mouthpiece in a trade deal for one of my other mouthpieces. This is a metal Freddie Gregory Mark IV size 8 tenor saxophone mouthpiece. It has the ridges on the outside and a high rollover baffle in it. I have to say I am surprised that this tenor saxophone mouthpiece […]
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