To date, I have play-tested the P. Mauriat 67R, 76 2ND edition, and the 86 model alto saxophones at various NAMM conventions. Recently, Craig Denny at Saint Louis Music sent me one of the limited edition model altos that P. Mauriat just released as the “System-76 3rd Edition Alto” – aka “The Dragon” – aka the [read more…]
Introduction Since I play tested their line of reeds at the 2012 NAMM show, Forestone has added into their catalog a line of saxophones and saxophone accessories. Craig Denny over at St. Louis Music was nice enough to send me some Forestone ligatures for alto saxophone as well as some hard rubber tenor and alto [read more…]
The new JodyJazz DV HR Tenor uses the patented DV secondary window to add mid and low harmonics, resulting in a more authoritative tone than normal tenor sax mouthpieces provide. And the long straight somewhat high baffle gives the mouthpiece it’s fantastic projection and cutting power along with excellent altissimo.
JODYJAZZ.COM
The New DV HR Tenor from JodyJazz
Introduction I have received emails from various sax players asking me about the Viking line of saxophones and how they play. When I checked out the Viking saxophones website, the various models were based on the Balanced Action, Super Balanced Action, Mark VI, and most recently the King Super 20 Silversonic. Rich Maraday, owner of [read more…]
Bobby Stern Bio Bobby Stern got his professional start in music playing at various US military clubs, and then went on to tour Spain with the Thad Jones Septet. After attending the Berklee College of Music, Bobby played with a wide variety of groups in addition to playing with guitarist Joe Perry of Aerosmith. Bobby [read more…]
After demoing the Eastman 52nd Street tenor saxophone at the 2013 NAMM show, I knew I had to take a second look at this horn to see how it compared some of the other tenor saxophones I tried out at the NAMM show, along with my Mark VI. Ralph Torres, saxophone product specialist at Andreas [read more…]
Introduction I had never heard of the Lupifaro line of saxophones until I attended the 2013 NAMM show and ran into a gentleman by the name of Tatsuro Miyatake. Tatsuro gave me a sample pack of Lupifaro Classic strength 3 tenor reeds to test out. Once I returned home from the NAMM show, I tested [read more…]
Since playing in concert band and jazz band throughout middle school, high school, and college, I have always seen many musicians using Rovner ligatures on both saxophone and clarinet. In one of my first reviews, I reviewed a group of ligatures which included the Rovner Eddie Daniels Edition ligature (which I currently use on alto). [read more…]
I recently received Walt Weiskopf’s latest book, Understanding the Diminished Scale. I learned my C, C#, and D diminished scales in the past (between those three you have the notes for all twelve diminished scales, the book can explain further), but I never knew how to apply the scale effectively in my improvisation work. I have [read more…]
While at the 2013 NAMM show, I ran into a gentleman by the name of Alex Miyatake. I met Alex at the R.S. Berkley booth while trying out various Virtuoso tenor saxophones. Alex told me to try out his Marmaduke line of mouthpieces. I have heard and seen these mouthpieces on Sax.co.uk and have seen [read more…]
Introduction For years and years now, Conn-Selmer has been manufacturing some of the most popular and highly regarded woodwind and brass instruments on the market. I was recently contacted by Derek Bowen over at Conn-Selmer, and he was nice enough to send me a Yanagisawa 992 tenor, Selmer Reference 54 tenor, and a Selmer Reference [read more…]
Tips and Techniques from the pros PLUS free access to the Sax Lessons with the Stars archive - 10 years worth of interviews and exercises featuring the likes of David Liebman, Bob Mintzer, Ben Wendel, Bob Reynolds, and many more!
