I’m always on the lookout for exercises that develop tone, technique and articulation. While I use material that is familiar to saxophonists (e.g. The Universal Method, Oliver Nelson’s Patterns for Saxophone), I also draw from methods developed for other instruments. Having started as a classical flute player (until a Charlie Parker record changed my life), [read more…]
Baritonist Frank Basile gets around. And by that I mean shakin’ up the scene with the likes of The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band, The Jimmy Heath Big Band, The Dave Holland Big Band, The Joe Lovano Nonet, Michael Bublé, The Christian McBride Big Band, Pablo Mayor’s Folklore Urbano, The [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
A Labor of Love I remember being in sixth grade and asking my sax teacher the inevitable question: “Who’s the best saxophone player in the world?” Of course, there can never be a definitive answer to a question like that, but my teacher didn’t miss a beat when he replied, “Michael Brecker.” And he wasn’t [read more…]
Grammy nominated performer, composer and producer Ben Wendel has enjoyed multiple domestic and international tours with such artists as Cuban drumming legend Ignacio Berroa, Thelonious Monk Piano Competition Winner Tigran Hamasyan and even Snoop Dogg. He’s also a founding member of the Grammy nominated group Kneebody. In addition to playing saxophone and bassoon, Ben also doubles [read more…]
Touted by Phil Woods as “one of the greatest alto players ever,” it’s no coincidence that Jon Gordon has been steadily building his reputation as one of the baddest of the bad on his axe. And it’s hard to avoid virtuosity when you’re sharing the stage and studio with folks like Kenny Barron, Tony Bennett, Dave [read more…]
This past weekend I got to interview none other than the musical genius swiss army knife known as Bob Mintzer. I know, totally awesome and amazing, right? One thing he said during the interview really stuck out to me was this: To play in a contemporary way, you really must have the depth of having studied the players that [read more…]
This guest post is from saxophone and multi-reed player, composer, recording artist, and educator Sam Sadigursky of SamSadigursky.com It’s a mystery to most people how a musician cobbles together a living, or perhaps just some semblance of one. Often, after telling somebody that you’re a musician, their gut reaction is to reply, “Cool. Is that what you [read more…]
I won’t waste all of your time trying to introduce Sonny Rollins to you, since you already more than familiar with the music and the man. And if you aren’t…wow… But seriously, it’s no secret that Sonny’s name belongs in the same sentence with John Coltrane, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and any one of the [read more…]
This week’s podcast is a very special event here at Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. as we interview saxophone giant David Liebman. A Brief History Having been featured on nearly three hundred and fifty recordings as both a leader and a sideman, living saxophone legend David Liebman is one of the most influential voices on his [read more…]
The baritone sax doesn’t get as much love as it should, and that just plain ain’t right. There are a lot of reasons for this, but it’s always great to come across bari players who make the instrument burn and sing just as much as some of their most skilled counterparts on the smaller members [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!
