For those of my compadres living in lands where the holiday of Thanksgiving is celebrated, and even those of you who aren’t, I just wanted to send my warmest thoughts for a safe and happy Turkey Day. As for me, I’ll be heading out to the ever-festive town of Palm Springs, California. So you’ll be [read more…]
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It’s one of the key factors that separates the pros from the amateurs. It’s the reason I call American Idol The Intonation Olympics, since it’s the intonation factor which so drastically affects whether or not the singer will manage to touch the viewers’ hearts. It doesn’t matter whether you sing or play an instrument, but [read more…]
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…]
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…]