Thanks to accomplished UK sax man Ben Castle, I recently came across what’s become a fabulous way to suck away precious hours of my life. It’s called “Virtual Sax!” and it allows any of us to put together a funkyjazzy solo by merely moving our mouse in rhythm to two different pre-recorded backing tracks. How [read more…]
This guest post comes to us from Andrew Hadro, a professional baritone saxophonist, educator, and curator of THE definitive baritone saxophone destination on the web, JazzBariSax.com. After years of being a professional baritone saxophonist, I still can’t shake people’s persistent assumptions that the baritone saxophone is a lesser instrument. A Bum Rap This myth has understandable – if [read more…]
New York City’s Mark Small is a badman on the tenor. Although he’s done much more, Mark’s main claim to fame is as the tenor guy in massively popular modern-day crooning sensation Michael Buble’s touring and recording ensemble. Tours with Buble have taken Mark to each and every corner of the planet as well as [read more…]
Why We’re Obsessed With Wayne Shorter NPR.org This past Monday had NPR.org posting a in-depth interview with Wayne Shorter’s biographer, Michelle Mercer. Obviously one of Wayne Shorter’s biggest fans, she offers her uniquely exhaustive insights on the music and the man. The interview covers topics such as Wayne’s revolutionary role in Brazilian jazz as well [read more…]
For Steve Cole, becoming one of the biggest players in contemporary jazz was no coincidence, as this guy’s certainly paid some dues. Any artist who manges to sell hundreds of thousands of albums and score four #1 R&R Smooth Jazz hits is likely to be a force to be reckoned with. Steve is no exception. [read more…]
For those of you who’ve been keeping up with the blog (and shame on you if you’re not one of those people), I’ve recently been putting out articles that have to do with the art of saxophone tone creation, including articles on overtones, practicing on the mouthpiece, and proper positioning of the lower lip. Since [read more…]
A few weeks ago I saw a brief instructional video by monster sax player and educator, George Garzone. In the video, he takes on a plethora of topics, but one thing he said really stood out to me. George says that the first thing he does when a new student comes to him is have [read more…]
Now repeat the title of this article 27 times in a row at 300 bpm. But seriously ladies and gents, with this article I’d like to stress the importance of practicing your instruments at all different levels of volume, from pianissimo all the way up to fortissimo. From the Back to the Middle and Around Again [read more…]
Saxophonist, composer and author Walt Weiskopf has worked with legendary acts such as Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Toshiko Akiyoshi, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Steely Dan to name just a few. As a solo artist, he’s recorded fourteen critically acclaimed albums bringing onboard heavyweights such as Brad Mehldau, John Patitucci, Billy Drummond, Joe Locke, and [read more…]
Dexter Gordon, Marcel Mule, David Sanborn – what do these legendary musicians all have in common? The answer, of course, is a big, beautiful, and distinctive tone. If you’re like me, for years and years, the only thing I ever heard about improving my sound was to practice long tones and support the air from [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!
