Sax Dakota Straight Tenor and Alto Saxophone Introduction Over the past few years at NAMM, I have seen many saxophonists test play the Sax Dakota Straight tenor and alto saxophone. Due to their popularity at the show, I never had a chance to sit down and test play both saxophones. Recently Peter LaPlaca, owner of [read more…]
Biography The gifted, versatile saxophonist/clarinetist/composer John Ellis occupies an imaginary (and extremely imaginative) space directly between the celebratory, welcoming spirit of New Orleans and the edgy, frantic streets of New York City. Both as the leader of his own eclectic projects and as an in-demand sideman for a mind-boggling number and variety of artists, Ellis [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
KB Sax Handcrafted Saxophone Necks Introduction I visited Kim Bock’s shop a few years ago to try out various vintage Selmer and TM custom saxophones as well as gain a better understanding of his repair work since more and more players were going to Kim to have their saxophones overhauled and setup. Recently, Kim has [read more…]
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…]
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…]
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!
