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…]
I’m guessing that each and every one of you reading this practice scales on a regular basis. It’s one of the first things that we learn and something that is reinforced throughout our lives in school or when taking lessons. Scales are amazing. I’m a huge fan and I believe they are a necessity for [read more…]
Introduction I have and still play on Vandoren products from reeds to mouthpieces to ligatures, and the list goes on. In the past, I had reviewed Vandoren’s line of products (Vandoren Product Review) and one of those products was the Vandoren V16 tenor and alto saxophone mouthpieces. Recently, Vandoren introduced the V16 S+ mouthpieces for [read more…]
Introduction I was recently contacted by Paul and Jim Corry who design and manufacture their own line of mouthpieces and asked me to review one of their new pieces of equipment I had never seen before called the Tone Tablet. Now I have seen various neck screws as well as the Klangbogen (BSWE Klangbogen Review), [read more…]
Introduction With musicians continued frustration around the consistency of cane reeds from brand to brand, there have been more reed tools hitting the market designed to help address this common issue. In the past, I had tried sand paper, reed rush, and a reed knife to try and correct various reeds that either played too [read more…]
Introduction If you have listened to Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, you might be wondering, who is that killing saxophonist backing up these two famous entertainers? If you don’t know, this is Steve Kortyka. I recently reached out to Steve to take a skype lesson and during my lesson, Steve shared two concepts with me [read more…]
Getting a saxophone to sound distinctive and beautiful in the recording studio is considered to be something of an art form that can take many years to perfect. If you are looking to start recording your own playing with a home studio set-up, or have already begun and are finding it difficult – you will [read more…]
Introduction I have seen new accessories hitting the market to address or improve upon specific areas on the saxophone that are seen to be lacking resonance or feel not as comfortable when playing. Some of these after-market accessories are neck screws, thumb rests, necks, and thumb hooks just to name a few. The thumb hook in particular [read more…]
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