Every once in a while I come across a video that’s so amazing and inspiring that I just have to share it. This video of Chris Potter playing Charlie Parker’s confirmation sans accompaniment is more certainly one of those videos. The video is actually a part of a masterclass DVD series sold by Roberto’s Winds, and [read more…]
One of the hallmarks of any professional musician is the clarity and evenness of the individual notes they play as part of a note-packed passage of music, such as a 16th or 32nd note run. I recently came across a helpful discovery in this area while practicing my chromatic scale. Cleanliness is Next to Godliness [read more…]
Flashy technique and altissimo are all fine and good, but a rich, powerful, and distinctive saxophone sound that truly grabs your listeners is the hallmark of any great player. Thing is, without the correct methods, you're likely to waste time, looking for the perfect setup and trying to make sense of vague and conflicting instruction from books, videos, and private teachers.
Luckily, sax legend David Liebman, one of the world's foremost experts on saxophone sound production, takes you on a step-by-step journey through the method used by legends such as Michael Brecker, Bob Berg, and other masters. Starting from your mental concept of sound, to the breath, to the throat and the oral cavity (lots of cool overtone exercises here!), to the embouchure, and then on to expressive effects and working on reeds - Dave covers everything you need to develop the sort of sound that turns heads - from the first note.
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Ready to go Deep Into the Art of Building a Massive Saxophone Sound?
Your weekly sampling of some of this past week’s saxophone-related news: A Collaboration Embraces the Sacred and the Saxophone (Jan Garbarek) Dave Liebman: Hard Work Courtney Pine gets even closer to his roots [Sorry(!), but this web page has disappeared since the original publication of this article] MUSIC PREVIEW: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe / Maceo Parker [read more…]
I just got done doing an amazing in-depth interview with the multi-gifted New York saxophonist, composer, and mouthpiece refacer Adam Niewood for our podcast (aka Best. Saxophone. Podcast. Ever.). Among the things that struck me over the course of the interview was Adam’s description of a major turning point in his musical journey. You see, the [read more…]
Over the last few decades as a player, composer, and educator with an insatiable hunger for new material to work on, I’ve amassed an extensive library of books for saxophone. Despite owning many of the countless books on the market now, there are very few books that I’ve found myself coming back to over and [read more…]
Here is another little tidbit that while not exactly being breaking news, is still something that a lot of people have still not yet seen. In an inspiring interview presented in both text and audio with Charlie Parker conducted by Paul Desmond, the two legends discuss a myriad of fascinating topics. Some of the highlights Charlie Parker [read more…]
Your weekly sampling of some of this past week’s saxophone-related news: Shining on: interview with Sonny Rollins Rico expands Reserve Classic line [Sorry(!), but this web page has disappeared since the original publication of this article] Jan Garbarek and the Hilliards play music by Komitas (video) Pharoah Sanders part of a long line of jazz royalty [Sorry(!), [read more…]
I know that this brilliant video by sax player Allen Mezquida has been out for a while, but I still wanted to feature it here in case anyone missed it. What I love about it is not only is the animation awesome, but the saxophone playing is great. Amazing to know that Allen was responsible [read more…]