{"id":389054,"date":"2026-06-20T14:01:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=389054"},"modified":"2026-06-20T14:01:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:01:33","slug":"morgan-kind-of-blue-cannonball-adderley-alto-saxophone-mouthpiece-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/morgan-kind-of-blue-cannonball-adderley-alto-saxophone-mouthpiece-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Kind of Blue Cannonball Adderley Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I am super excited to be reviewing the new Morgan Kind of Blue alto saxophone mouthpiece from Morgan mouthpieces<\/a>.\u00a0 The Morgan Kind of Blue mouthpiece is an exact reproduction of the alto saxophone mouthpiece that Cannonball Adderley used from 1954 to 1970.<\/p>\n

Among the most famous recordings on which Cannonball played this mouthpiece are Kind of Blue<\/em> by Miles Davis and Somethin’ Else<\/em> by Cannonball Adderley, although there are many others.\u00a0 These iconic jazz albums helped define the rich, expressive alto saxophone sound that made Cannonball Adderley one of the most influential alto saxophonists in jazz history.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Kind of Blue Cannonball Adderley Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is a description of the Morgan Kind of Blue alto saxophone mouthpiece from the Morgan mouthpieces website<\/a> description:<\/p>\n

Museum Quality “Kind of Blue” Alto Saxophone mouthpiece<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The only modern saxophone mouthpiece to be part of a major American museum collection, the Morgan “Kind of Blue” alto saxophone mouthpiece was duplicated from the actual alto saxophone mouthpiece used by Cannonball Adderley on the iconic Miles Davis recording “Kind of Blue”.\u00a0 As reflected in our customer reviews, this is mostly likely the best alto saxophone mouthpiece you will ever play.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n

Produced under the supervision of alto saxophone virtuoso and Downbeat Magazine Top 5 alto saxophone poll winner Jim Snidero (and long-time custodian of the original mouthpiece), every effort has been made to equal the incredible sound, response, projection and intonation of the original Cannonball Adderley alto saxophone mouthpiece.\u00a0 While offered in multiple sizes, Cannonball Adderley played a size 5 with a medium\/medium hard reed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mouthpiece History:<\/strong><\/em>
\nWhen Cannonball Adderley passed away in 1975, prominent LA alto saxophonist Bill Green acquired some of Cannonball’s saxophone equipment, including his sax mouthpieces, from Cannonball’s wife Olga James.\u00a0 Another prominent LA alto saxophonist named Dave Edwards was good friends with Bill, who graciously gave Dave Cannonball’s mouthpieces.\u00a0 In the 1990’s, Jim Snidero became friends with Dave after he moved from LA to Orlando. After Dave’s sudden passing in 2000, his wife Phyllis Edwards gifted the alto saxophone mouthpiece Cannonball used on Kind of Blue to Jim Snidero, who has been custodian of Cannonball’s alto saxophone mouthpiece ever since.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Morgan Kind of Blue Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have to be honest, Cannonball Adderley’s playing has always been a bit of a mystery to me.\u00a0 When I was younger, I could understand the phrasing and jazz vocabulary of Charlie Parker, Phil Woods, Art Pepper, Sonny Stitt, and others, but when it came to Cannonball Adderley, I was often a bit lost.<\/p>\n

The reason, I believe, was Cannonball’s remarkable sense of freedom. His improvisations flowed with an ease and spontaneity that seemed impossible to predict.\u00a0 He was free from repetitive articulations, constantly varying them in ways that were both surprising and expressive.\u00a0 He was free from endless streams of repetitive eighth notes, choosing instead to weave unexpected rhythms into his lines while never losing the groove.\u00a0 He was free from being confined by the common jazz vocabulary of those around him, forging a musical language that was distinctly his own.<\/p>\n

I would listen to Cannonball Adderley a lot as a high school student, but his flowing lines with unpredictable articulations and unpredictable rhythms always confused me as a young student.\u00a0 My confusion wasn’t so much caused by the notes but by the delivery of those notes.\u00a0 I couldn’t anticipate what Cannonball Adderley was going to do next and because of that, it was hard for me to figure out how Cannonball Adderley was thinking while improvising.<\/p>\n

Even though there was always that mystery around Cannonball’s creativity for me, I have always had a deep appreciation for his tone and ability to express emotion through the alto saxophone.\u00a0 His commanding, confident sound and bluesy ideas were qualities that immediately resonated with me and remain aspects of his playing that I have always hoped to capture in my own sound.<\/p>\n

If the Morgan Kind of Blue alto saxophone mouthpiece can help me move even a little closer to that goal, I will be very happy.<\/p>\n

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Morgan Kind of Blue Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the Morgan Kind of Blue alto saxophone mouthpiece is an exact copy of Cannonball Adderley’s alto saxophone mouthpiece, I think it is important to discuss what exactly Cannonball Adderley’s alto saxophone mouthpiece was.\u00a0 Morgan mouthpieces has an interesting page on their website<\/a> describing Cannonball’s mouthpiece that you can check out for the full details: What alto saxophone mouthpiece did Cannonball Adderley play?<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is a fascinating quote from the Morgan website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“My first thoughts were\u2026Cannonball Adderley played on a Meyer Bros NY Medium Chamber Model alto saxophone mouthpiece\u2026 most every saxophone mouthpiece company, including us, already makes a version of a NY Meyer Medium Chamber alto saxophone mouthpiece. \u00a0Even Meyer is claiming they have a re-issue of the original alto saxophone mouthpiece that Cannonball Adderley played. \u00a0The world really does not need another Meyer Bros New York style alto saxophone mouthpiece.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then Jim Snidero showed us the original Cannonball mouthpiece\u2026What\u2019s this? \u00a0This is an odd mouthpiece\u2026it\u2019s short, it\u2019s fat, the slope of the beak is steeper resulting in a thicker beak, the chamber is not a standard medium chamber. \u00a0There are no markings on the table. \u00a0There is a 5 facing stamp on the side left of the end of the table. \u00a0The top is marked \u201cMeyer Bros\u201d. There are no other markings visible. \u00a0Any markings on the shank are covered by the shank ring. \u00a0This is definitely something different, so what was it?<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1954, Meyer redesigned alto saxophone mouthpieces with all new chamber designs for small, medium, and large chamber models and now all models shared the same exterior body. \u00a0This is the model we all know as the Meyer Bros New York Model and this is the model that many mouthpiece companies have used as inspiration for their own \u201cNew York\u201d model alto saxophone mouthpieces. \u00a0This is also the model that most every online history of Cannonball Adderley claims he played. \u00a0All over the internet, you can find articles and blogs that make the FALSE claim that Cannonball Adderley played a Meyer Bros New York Medium Chamber 5 alto saxophone mouthpiece. \u00a0NOT TRUE!!!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Not only is everyone on the internet wrong about the model he played, we also believe they are wrong about the chamber size of Cannonball\u2019s alto saxophone mouthpiece. \u00a0Due to the shorter exterior of the body, we believe the original mouthpiece is a \u201cLarge Chamber\u201d Model\u2026not a Medium Chamber Model. \u00a0Meyer marked the chamber sizes on the shanks of the mouthpiece. \u00a0Cannonball cracked the shank of his mouthpiece early on and had a brass ring put on the shank to prevent further cracking. \u00a0Unfortunately, the brass ring covers the original shank markings. \u00a0We begged Jim Snidero to let us remove the shank ring so we could see the markings underneath, but Jim was very protective of the mouthpiece and would not allow us to do it. What we can say is that the chamber is certainly larger than a Meyer Bros New York Medium Chamber, but it is not as large as what most of us think of as a large chamber. \u00a0So, our best guess is that Cannonball Adderley played on a Meyer Bros Series III LARGE Chamber Model alto saxophone mouthpiece, and it was definitely made prior to 1954\u2026probably 1952\/1953.<\/em><\/p>\n

While surprising, this was great news for us. \u00a0The alto saxophone mouthpiece Cannonball played on is a rare and hard-to-find mouthpiece and there is nothing like it on the market. \u00a0The Meyer \u201cSeries III\u201d Model mouthpieces were produced for maybe 2-3 years and surviving examples are difficult to find. \u00a0Making a modern replica of this mouthpiece re-introduces a mouthpiece design not seen for 70+ years\u2026and what a great playing alto saxophone mouthpiece it is.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Later in his career, Cannonball did pick up a 1960s Meyer Medium Chamber alto saxophone mouthpiece. He used this newer mouthpiece along with his original mouthpiece in recordings and performances the rest of his career. \u00a0However, for most of his career, he played on an earlier hard-to-find Meyer mouthpiece. \u00a0If you are looking for a similar mouthpiece to what Cannonball Adderley played, the Morgan \u201cKind of Blue\u201d Model is a replica and as far as we know, the only mouthpiece like it on the market.<\/em>“-Morgan mouthpiece website \u00a0 <\/a><\/em>*If you are still not convinced, visit this link to read the full article<\/a> about the original banded Meyer alto saxophone mouthpiece that Cannonball Adderley played on.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Morgan Kind of Blue Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece next to the Original Meyer Series III Large Chambered Mouthpiece that Cannonball played<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Morgan Kind of Blue alto saxophone mouthpiece came well packaged in a beautifully crafted black box with the Morgan logo on it and a gold sticker on the side of the box with the model mouthpiece and tip opening on it.\u00a0 The mouthpiece was shipped with abundant padding to protect the mouthpiece through the mail.\u00a0 You can see the video of me opening the package it came in below.<\/p>\n