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Playing the saxophone requires a lot of practice and repetition if you want to be the best. Warmups are a big part of keeping your muscle memory sharp and increasing your lung capacity so that you can play better, for longer. Doing saxophone warmups and practice exercises before performing also help to focus your mind [read more…]
Like many of you I’m sure, my first loves on jazz saxophone were people like Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Phil Woods, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, etc…. you get the idea – the modern lineage that I connected to easily and shaped this music that we love. I immediately wanted [read more…]
I know I’m not the only guy out there who loves to futz around the music store, trying the latest gear, wanting to play a different horn or a different mouthpiece, looking for that edge – that mystical “something” in the sound that just gives me that little “extra boost” toward sound nirvana. But if [read more…]
This article is a lesson that comes to us courtesy of world-renown saxophonist, Jon Gordon, and also appears in his book, Foundations for Improvisors. For nearly all jazz improvisors, the chord progression that is most familiar is the two-five-one (ii-7, V7, I), which is the basis of be-bop harmony. However, as we learn to expand [read more…]
This article is in response to an article by renowned NYC jazz saxophonist, Mike Lee titled, “How Did ‘Licks’ Become a Four Letter Word?”. Click here to read it if you haven’t done so already. Mike and I agree on one thing. There is no faster way to go from a clueless beginner to [read more…]
The advent of social media has allowed me to witness the re-emergence of the phenomena of “lick” haters. The complaint against licks, I think, boils down to musicians sounding uninspired and clinical because their improvisations sound like exercises and don’t illicit a sense of freedom and spontaneity that true art requires. The conventional wisdom is [read more…]
If you’ve found your way to this article, chances are pretty good that you know who Michael Brecker is. Chances are also pretty good that you’ve spent many a listening session in awe of his legendary, unparalleled command of the saxophone as well as his often-imitated-never-duplicated improvisational vocabulary. For most of us, he ranks at, [read more…]
For those 10 or so of you who follow the Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. on social media or are subscribed to the sax tips newsletter, by now you have probably heard me blather on about saxophone recording artist and master class clinician, Adam Larson’s new video course, Lightning-Fast and Crystal-Clean, which I am publishing through [read more…]