Introduction I have seen various saxophonists playing on Phil-Tone mouthpieces as well as vintage mouthpieces refaced by Phil Engelman for sale on eBay and Craiglists but have never had the chance to test play Phil’s various mouthpieces for myself until now. I will be test playing four different Phil-Tone tenor mouthpieces (2 metal & 2 [read more…]
Introduction While attending the 2017 NAMM Show (2017 Saxophone Gear Roundup), I had a chance to briefly test play the new D’Addario Select Jazz tenor mouthpiece 7M tip opening. A few weeks after NAMM, Kristen Mckeon, Product Specialist at D’Addario, was nice enough to send me a 7M (.105) tip opening to further review. [read more…]
We live in an increasingly visual world. A world of billboards, smart phones, computer screens, FaceTime, Instagram, Google ads, Facebook photos, Photoshop. But how about this – jazz music is all about listening. It’s all about sound. It’s an aural tradition. Jazz musicians say this all the time for good reason – because it’s true! [read more…]
Introduction This marks my 6th year attending NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) and the show keeps getting bigger and better every year. Similar to the 2016 NAMM Show (2016 NAMM Show Saxophone Gear Roundup), the 2017 NAMM show was yet another year filled with more exhibitors showcasing new and updated products including: saxophones, necks, ligatures, [read more…]
Stuck for ideas of what to play over that ii-V7? Give the octatonic (eight note) Diminished Scale a whirl. It’s a self contained, colorful, almost automatic source of melodic and harmonic tension and release that the masters have mastered since its inception. Within this symmetric, octatonic galaxy resides every available dominant tension (with the exception [read more…]
Introduction Seamus Blake is one of my favorite saxophonists on the scene today and continues to move jazz in a forward direction appealing to a wide range of audiences. During my senior year of college, I had the opportunity to meet Seamus Blake and attend his masterclass where he discussed sound, practicing in all 12 [read more…]
Anyone can play fast and accurately. There is no magic to it, just practising in a correct and constructive way. Most students nowadays fall into what I like to call a computer game mentality when they practice. They play a passage/lick/exercise wrong and/or sloppy a few times, and when they play it right once or [read more…]
Introduction While at last year’s NAMM show (NAMM 2016 Gear Roundup), I had the chance to test play a few new saxophone brands which I had not seen at the 2015 NAMM show. One saxophone manufacturer that stood out to me in particular was Ochres. Today, with many Taiwanese saxophones flooding the market, it has [read more…]
In virtually any musical idiom from the Western hemisphere, major and minor triads are a fundamental building block of melody. From children’s songs, to folk melodies, to European classical music, to Broadway show tunes and more, some of the most highly recognized and easily sung melodies are based upon the color and structure of the [read more…]
Biography Bruce Williams hails from Washington, D.C. and has performed, toured, and recorded with a long roster of jazz legends such as: Little Jimmy Scott, Frank Foster, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Stanley Cowell, Louis Smith, Cecil Brooks III, The Count Basie Orchestra, The World Saxophone Quartet, Russell Gunn, Curtis Fuller, and Roy Hargrove to just [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!
