Jazz Innovator Ben Wendel Get Us Playing More Creatively
Hey there guys. For those of you who are subscribed to either the Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. newsletter, or the Jazz Lessons with Giants newsletter, and assuming that you read my latest email, this is old news. But for everyone else…hear ye hear ye!
Here's a new alternative to the uninspiring tunes often found in the average beginning sax book. This collection of 25 tunes, each with backing and demonstration tracks plus a video tutorial, is the product one of my most significant discoveries in over two decades of working with beginning saxophonists. That is, beginners learn fundamentals much faster by playing the kind of music that attracted them to the horn in the first place.
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First off, I wanted to send my most sincere thanks for the unbelievable support on the Jazz Lessons with Giants pre-launch (for my newsletter subscribers only). I’ve already gotten some amazing feedback, and I’m super excited to see how it helps you guys kick up your playing a notch, or three.
As you might recall, last week’s pre-launch of Jazz Lessons with Giants was for my newsletter subscribers only. So to help promote the full public launch, I thought I’d hook you guys up with the aforementioned series of game-changing interviews with saxophone and jazz masters, Ben Wendel, Mel Martin, and Ted Nash. Of course, the program itself features David Liebman, Bob Mintzer, and Bob Sheppard, so the three interviews I’m talking about now are bonus material.
The first installment in the series is critically acclaimed jazz monster, Ben Wendel. As many of you already know, Ben is one of the hottest players on the scene right now with projects such the Grammy–nominated band, Kneebody, and his collaborations with folks such as pianists Dan Tepfer and Tigran Hamasyan. Outside of the jazz world, he’s worked with international superstars such as Snoop Dogg and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince to name just a few. He is a former Adjunct Professor of Jazz Studies at USC and current Adjunct at the New School in NYC. Ben also had the honor of conducting a re-creation of “Bird With Strings” at Jazz At The Lincoln Center with guests Charles McPherson and Wes “Warm Daddy” Anderson.
In this interview, Ben discusses hot topics such as…
- When it’s OK to play to rely on licks
- Coming up with new stuff to play
- A approach to transcription that will supercharge your ear as well as your improvisational vocabulary
- How “self-editing” while playing can interrupt the flow of your solo
- How to get comfortable playing in odd meters
- How to find other musicians to jam with
- How to set the stage for incredible collaboration with your bandmates
…and a whole lot more.
“Sounds great! Now how the $#%^ do I get this interview?”
Well, if you’re already subscribed to either the Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. newsletter or the Jazz Lessons with Giants newsletter, the link to the interviews goes/went out today (10/7/13) at 3pm PST.
If you’re not currently subscribed, then go ahead and sign yourself up using either the pretty blue form below, or the pretty blue form at the top of the sidebar. As you can see, you’ll also get some awesome master class interviews with Ricky Sweum, Tim Price & Bob Sheppard, not to mention a free saxophone tips PDF booklet. And most relevant to this article, you’ll be getting Jazz Lessons with Giants promo series of interviews with Ben, Mel, and Ted.
Since the original launch of these interviews already took place, hop over here to get the interviews delivered straight to your inbox!
Thanks guys!
– Doron
The Gear Behind the "Buzz" Around B.S.S (Boston Sax Shop) » Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever.
January 11, 2021 @ 3:58 pm
[…] of the high-profile players using B.S.S Custom include Ben Wendel, Melissa, Aldana, Braxton Cook, Jeff Coffin, and Joel Frahm, to name just a few players who have […]