As jazz saxophonists we are always contending with the challenge of “originality.” Like most saxophone students, I started out practicing from method books and transcribed solos, but eventually realized that I was not going to stand out as a player, or feel creatively fulfilled, if I only practiced what everyone else was practicing. I had [read more…]
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…]
You know that adrenaline you get from hearing a saxophonist tearing through super-hip lines with incredible clarity and a rock-solid time feel? Now, obviously, there's a lot more that goes into great sax playing than just playing a bunch of fast notes, but without solid technical skills, your playing is going to lack a critical dimension when it comes to exciting your listeners.
Luckily, there is, indeed, a clear path to developing those head-turning chops while at the same time adding original modern vocabulary to your improv "vocabulary", and renowned sax recording artist and educator Adam Larson's course, 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭-𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 is a "one-stop shopping" destination to get you there. Instead of blindly running scales or reading out of an exercise book, Adam takes you through a method similar to that of Brecker and other masters, where it's all about increasing the speed of not only your fingers, but your mind, and most importantly, your ears.
So if you're willing to do something you've never done so you can have something you've never had - click below to learn more about Adam's popular, game-changing course and start turbo-charging your playint - today.
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Lightning-Fast and Crystal-Clean Saxophone Technique
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…]
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 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…]
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…]
I’m writing this list at a coffee shop in Des Moines, IA before my forty fifth show on a 44-day tour. In the last 44 days I had the pleasure of playing in multiple cities in WI, MI, MN, ND, SD, WY, MT, ID, UT, WA, BC, OR, CA, AZ, TX, Mexico, NM, CO, NE [read more…]
Introduction At the 2019 NAMM Show, I was able to meet up with Jeff Ellwood, who is a saxophone player and teacher based out of Southern California. I have been following Jeff’s playing for quite some time as well practicing his educational materials, which are very good for players at all levels. For those of [read more…]