One of the most bewildering things for people learning to improvise can be how to add chromatic notes into their playing. We often learn chords and scales, but simply knowing them doesn’t make us able to play the colorful and interesting notes that make up the solos of so many of the greats, as well [read more…]
Bravo Reeds Introduction With the various limitations that traditional cane reeds present to saxophonists such as warping, consistency, and longevity. There are more and more manufacturers coming to the market with synthetic alternatives to address these issues. I have tried various synthetic reeds from Legere, Bari, Fiberreed, Forestone, Fibracell, and although I still prefer traditional [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.
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The New DV HR Tenor from JodyJazz
This guest post is from saxophone and multi-reed player, composer, recording artist, and educator Sam Sadigursky of SamSadigursky.com One of the best ways of building your ears and learning the jazz vocabulary is to transcribe solos by the masters. It’s one of the few things that, in some form or another, just about every jazz player has [read more…]
ReedJuvinate Introduction I have struggled like many saxophonists to find a good reed. I would say most to all players have bought a box of 5 or 10 reeds and have only found one or two reeds that play well right out of the box. Some methods I have used to improve the overall reed’s [read more…]
Klangbogen Introduction At the 2016 NAMM show, I stopped by ReedGeek to check out the ReedGeek Black Diamond G4. While at the booth, Mauro Di Gioia, founder and president of ReedGeek, showed me a new device he called the Klangbogen. To gain a better understanding of what the Klangbogen has to offer, I will be [read more…]
I used to struggle with chromaticism in my solos. I wanted nothing more than to achieve that bebop sound, weaving in and out of chord changes effortlessly and never repeating myself. It wasn’t until I consciously sat down and came up with some exercises geared specifically toward this concept that it started to come out [read more…]
Stephan Kammerer MouthpiecesIntroduction The first time I heard of Stephan Kammerer is when I visited KB Saxophone Services in N.Y.C. Kim Bock introduced me to some of Stephan’s prototype hard rubber mouthpieces while I was test playing various SBA’s and Mark VI’s with my Otto Link Slant Signature tenor mouthpiece. I remember playing one of [read more…]
Bill Plake’s “Essential Polymeter Studies In 4/4” Introduction Before I talk about Bill’s e-book Essential Polymeter Studies In 4/4, I thought you might want to find out more about the author. Bill Plake is “a saxophonist, flutist, composer, and an Alexander Technique teacher, certified by the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). He is [read more…]
You know the saying, “you can never be too thin or have too big a saxophone sound…” Ok, well maybe that’s not really a saying, and maybe there is such a thing as being too thin (hey, I live in L.A., I know these things). But seriously, just about every single set of eyeballs reading [read more…]
Introduction As a classical saxophone player I find there to be so many different great recordings and interpretations by talented saxophonists around the world. It’s fascinating when analyzing where saxophonists take their phrases and expression as most saxophone players don’t have the same interpretation even though they may be performing the same piece. This list [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!
