Someone once told me that, when speaking to Cannonball Adderley about tone after seeing him with Miles’ band, which included John Coltrane (!), he mentioned that they were seeking an “inspired tone”. Safe to say, they found it. An inspired tone, along with great time, are two traits that all masters have in common. No [read more…]
Introduction Vandoren is a name that many saxophonists have come to swear by. I have tried many of Vandoren’s reeds and saxophone accessories for soprano, alto, and tenor. David Gould and Andy Blanco over at DANSR were nice enough to send me some of their most popular Vandoren products. I am going to be reviewing [read more…]
This article was written by guest contributor, Bobby Stern, a long time professional saxophonist, jazz player, educator, Bari Woodwinds endorser and author of “The Melodic Minor Handbook: A Jazz Player’s Perspective” as well as a new self published eBook “Slick Licks That Stick!” This is a very useful series of exercises for building your chops and acclimating your ear to different tonal [read more…]
After attending the NAMM 2012 trade show and being blown away by the amount of artists, vendors, and enthusiasts who showed up, I knew I had to go back next year. NAMM 2013 was another great year full of new equipment, great artists, and more vendors showing off their latest products to help musicians make [read more…]
This guest article is from saxophone and multi-reed player, composer, recording artist, and educator Sam Sadigursky of SamSadigursky.com. For those of you who have read my previous articles, I’m a big proponent of taking the time to get comfortable in any major or minor key. The exercises I’m going to be covering in this article [read more…]
For those of you who’ve never heard of it, the NAMM (which stands for “National Association of Music Merchants”) show is a ginormous convention held each year in Anaheim, California. It’s a true play land (bad pun intended) for musicians in every genre, as musical instrument and equipment manufacturers are set up in booths containing [read more…]
This week I wanted to do something a bit special. Rather than rattling on with my views on saxophone playing and music in general, I thought I’d leave it to the saxophone greats to share their wisdom and insights with you. Between all of the combined quotes below is centuries worth of knowledge on topics [read more…]
The first time I saw Greg Fishman was when I attended Jamey Aebersold’s jazz workshop. Since then, Greg has come out with multiple educational books for saxophone such as Jazz Saxophone Etudes, Jazz Phrasing for Beginners, Tasting Harmony, and a good number more. The two books (to date) that make up Fishman’s newest series, Hip [read more…]
Today’s article was inspired by a reader who posed the following great question: Any tips / advice on the critical skill of learning to relax when playing? Before I start a piece I try to breath deeply and let go of stress in the body. Despite this I can feel the tension rise, particularly in [read more…]
Over the course of my playing career I have tried countless saxophone accessories and reeds from many manufacturers. The first box of reeds I ever played on was a Rico orange box. I later moved on to the Rico Royals and then continued to try more and more reeds from different manufacturers to see how [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!
