Introduction Theo Wanne has expanded its saxophone mouthpiece lineup with the new Essentials series, offering “Concert”, “Contemporary”, and “Jazz” models for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. These affordable mouthpieces aim to provide options for diverse playing styles. Bryan Vance, the company’s COO, sent me an Essentials Jazz Tenor 7* and Essentials Jazz Alto 5 [read more…]
Introduction When searching for a new mouthpiece, there are quite a few options to consider. One main question that comes to mind is: “Do I buy a new mouthpiece or consider getting my current mouthpiece or backup refaced?” As there are more mouthpieces on the market than ever before, there has also been more buzz [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 remember first hearing about Steve Slagle when I was at Jamey Aebersold summer jazz workshop and saw guitarist Dave Stryker playing at the camp. When I was checking out Dave’s C.D.’s and found a few YouTube clips, I noticed Dave was playing with this alto player I hadn’t heard of before but really [read more…]
Introduction I have been a fan of Loren Stillman’s playing for quite some time. Recently, I saw Loren posting more videos on Instagram of himself playing tenor – an instrument which I didn’t know he played – and sharing some great practice ideas everyone could benefit from as well as additional content on his Patreon. [read more…]
Mea Culpa OK, so, maybe this article is based on an event that, at the time of this writing, happened about 5 months ago (aka NAMM 2024). And maybe we were a bit embarrassed to mention that in the title of this article. However, what you’re about to read most certainly lives up to its [read more…]
Introduction After returning from NAMM 2024, I was approached by Jennine Peter at 82 Rogue about checking out Kirsten Edkins’ new album Shapes & Sound. Kirsten Edkins is a saxophonist, composer, and educator based in L.A., and in this conversation, she shares more about her story, from starting on the saxophone, to studying at Eastman, [read more…]
Introduction You hear it time and time again – the playing level of young musicians entering the scene nowadays is higher than it’s ever been. One of the players who exemplifies this trend and starting to build a name for himself is Aidan McKeon. I had not heard of Aidan until running into some videos [read more…]
Introduction It’s been over five years since I last visited John’s shop and much has changed since then. Besides having a large assortment of modern and vintage saxophones, John has expanded his line of products to carry Ted Klum’s mouthpieces, Ishimori ligature & reeds, and an assortment of vintage mouthpiece, ligatures and some neck-straps. While [read more…]
Introduction Although I mainly play tenor saxophone, I still pick up the alto from time to time and like to listen to various alto players such as Kenny Garrett, Baptiste Herbin, Jaleel Shaw, Will Vinson, Immanuel Wilkins, Nick Biello, Braxton Cook, and the list goes on. Today, I was fortunate enough to meet up with saxophonist [read more…]
Introduction Getting caught in the YouTube rabbit hole can be a blessing and a curse. At times, you will be taken to videos of new players you’ve never heard of and are glad you checked out and at other times through countless random videos to where you ask yourself “what am I doing?” In this [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!
