Vandoren V21 Saxophone Reeds Introduction I have played on almost every type of Vandoren reed on the market today except for the V12’s. Currently, the Vandoren Java Red box 2.5 has become my favorite cut as mentioned in my Vandoren Product Overview(Vandoren Product Review). Since Vandoren has released the V21 reeds for alto and tenor saxophone, I [read more…]
Forestone’s Hinoki Reeds and Mouthpiece Patches Introduction Forestone continues to research, develop, and improve upon their existing product line. Recently, Forestone introduced a new synthetic reed called “Hinoki”. The Forestone “Hinoki”reed is a jazz cut hybrid that unlike the black bamboo model, comes in an ivory color that more resembles traditional cane. Forestone was nice [read more…]
Introduction I have been playing on an old Slant link for quite some time and have tried various manufacturers versions of an old slant link or early Babbitt mouthpiece to find one that played the same or better than mine. With Theo Wanne’s various mouthpiece models to meet every player’s needs, I was excited to [read more…]
Sax Dakota Straight Tenor and Alto Saxophone Introduction Over the past few years at NAMM, I have seen many saxophonists test play the Sax Dakota Straight tenor and alto saxophone. Due to their popularity at the show, I never had a chance to sit down and test play both saxophones. Recently Peter LaPlaca, owner of [read more…]
Biography The gifted, versatile saxophonist/clarinetist/composer John Ellis occupies an imaginary (and extremely imaginative) space directly between the celebratory, welcoming spirit of New Orleans and the edgy, frantic streets of New York City. Both as the leader of his own eclectic projects and as an in-demand sideman for a mind-boggling number and variety of artists, Ellis [read more…]
KB Sax Handcrafted Saxophone Necks Introduction I visited Kim Bock’s shop a few years ago to try out various vintage Selmer and TM custom saxophones as well as gain a better understanding of his repair work since more and more players were going to Kim to have their saxophones overhauled and setup. Recently, Kim has [read more…]
One of the most bewildering things for people learning to improvise can be how to add chromatic notes into their playing. We often learn chords and scales, but simply knowing them doesn’t make us able to play the colorful and interesting notes that make up the solos of so many of the greats, as well [read more…]
Bravo Reeds Introduction With the various limitations that traditional cane reeds present to saxophonists such as warping, consistency, and longevity. There are more and more manufacturers coming to the market with synthetic alternatives to address these issues. I have tried various synthetic reeds from Legere, Bari, Fiberreed, Forestone, Fibracell, and although I still prefer traditional [read more…]
This guest post is from saxophone and multi-reed player, composer, recording artist, and educator Sam Sadigursky of SamSadigursky.com One of the best ways of building your ears and learning the jazz vocabulary is to transcribe solos by the masters. It’s one of the few things that, in some form or another, just about every jazz player has [read more…]
ReedJuvinate Introduction I have struggled like many saxophonists to find a good reed. I would say most to all players have bought a box of 5 or 10 reeds and have only found one or two reeds that play well right out of the box. Some methods I have used to improve the overall reed’s [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!
