We have two lives: the one we learn with and the one we live after that. — Bernard Malamud Part 1 A few years ago I walked into a saxophone shop and asked the owner if he had heard a certain recording by legendary avant garde composer and saxophonist John Zorn. I was making musical [read more…]
Back in March when the COVID-19 quarantine went into effect, it took me a few weeks to gain my bearings. The shock and disbelief of watching all my upcoming tours, performances, and plans get cancelled day after day seemed too surreal to be true. I wasn’t playing my instrument much in those first few weeks. [read more…]
I have been following Jack Finucane at the increasingly-popular Boston Sax Shop for quite some time. Since the introduction of the Balam Back Strap, Jack has expanded his product line to include his own necks (Heritage Neck), neck-straps (Newbury Street & Deluxe), cases (Ambassador Case for tenor and alto), reeds (B.S.S.), and most recently his [read more…]
Biography From touring with Christian Scott to working on and producing his own music, Braxton Cook is not your average saxophone player. His high level of execution on the saxophone as well as business-savviness is something many young and experienced musicians should strive for. For those of you who are not already checking out Braxton, [read more…]
This article will deal with various aspects of playing the saxophone in jazz ensemble, concert band, rock bands, and show bands both as the only sax player and within a small horn section. I will discuss tuning, the responsibilities of each member of the section, suggestions for mouthpieces, reeds and ligatures. These are mostly my [read more…]
Biography Melissa Aldana to put it simply is one of the premier young saxophonists who has been hitting the scene and really making a name for herself. For those of you who don’t already know or listen to Melissa (in which case I highly encourage you to do ASAP), here are some key details on [read more…]