Introduction For those of you who do not know Baptiste Herbin (especially if you’re an alto player), you’re in for a treat. I have been following Baptiste’s playing for quite some time and have been amazed by his extraordinary command of all aspects of playing, from sound, to technique, to harmony, and rhythm. As [read more…]
Photo By “Lindsey Victoria Photography” Introduction I remember seeing and hearing Don Braden play at my first Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Camp. Since then, I have followed Don as a player as well as teacher and this past [read more…]
Here's a new alternative to the uninspiring tunes often found in the average beginning sax book. This collection of 25 tunes, each with backing and demonstration tracks plus a video tutorial, is the product one of my most significant discoveries in over two decades of working with beginning saxophonists. That is, beginners learn fundamentals much faster by playing the kind of music that attracted them to the horn in the first place.
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🎷 Sax Fundamentals Faster
Introduction I recently had the chance to speak with San Francisco Bay Area sax pro, Tim Lin, and he was nice enough to share some examples of melodic shapes, which I believe could benefit any player, whether they are beginning or advanced. My hope is that the exercises included in this article will be a [read more…]
Introduction There are more and more talented saxophone players hitting the scene today. With so much talent and fewer gigs, you really need to hone your skills as a saxophonist, but most importantly as a versatile musician. One player I really see making strides towards not just being accomplished on his instrument, but also becoming [read more…]
Introduction At the 2020 NAMM Show, I was fortunate enough to meet the great tenor saxophonist Tony Lakatos at the Gottsu booth. I have been following Tony for quite some time and was excited to finally get to meet and hear him play in person. For those of you who don’t know much about Tony, [read more…]
Introduction I am continuously speaking to saxophone players on the scene today and am always asking “are there any new players I should be checking out?” Recently, the name that has come up quite a bit is a saxophonist named Chris Bittner. Fortunately at NAMM 2020, I ran into Derek Cliff Crane who runs SaxSpy [read more…]
The argument for and against “shredding” is as old as music itself. In this article I will define the term “shredding” and try to look at it from a perspective that I think is overlooked by most musicians who are anti-shredding. I will also explain, with examples, why I believe shredding is probably a good [read more…]
In this article, we’re going to be taking deep-dive into a project me and my group recently recorded in Spain at Berklee Valencia. The song began in spring 2018 inspired by The Venus Project, initially refined while at Boysie Lowery Jazz Residency in Wilmington, Delaware (USA) shortly before leaving for Spain. I wanted to write [read more…]
Maxim Shalygin’s Todos los Todos el Fuego (2019) is a new, nearly 90-minute long work for saxophone octet, inspired by the Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar. While there have been other original works for 8 saxophones, no work has ever combined tonal and avant garde elements with the scope and scale found in Maxim’s piece, called [read more…]
Introduction Once again, the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show 2020 was filled with exhibitors showcasing their latest music-making products, so once again,I was lucky enough to be able to visit the show myself and check out all of the latest and greatest saxophones, necks, ligatures, mouthpieces, reeds, neck-straps, neck-screws, cases and the 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!
