I recently did an interview with the NYC sax master who’s worked with Steely Dan, Buddy Rich, and 14 albums-worth of his own groups, Walt Weiskopf. One interesting story Walt told me was how he attained his dream of getting into the Buddy Rich band. Apparently, Walt would go to the band’s gigs and meet [read more…]
We spend hours practicing our instrument (well, at least some of us). We bust our chops trying to sound better all the time. Playing long tones, scales, etudes, harmonics, learning tunes, soloing over changes, taking lessons – you know what I’m talking about. Hard work works every time, but sometimes it’s worth asking – “am [read more…]
Your weekly sampling of some of this past week’s saxophone-related news: Album review: Joe Lovano Us Five’s ‘Bird Songs’ Joshua Redman goes solo Saxophonist Dave Liebman’s fine work gets its due Street musician gets new sax, courtesy of his doctor [Sorry(!), but this web page has disappeared since the original publication of this article] How to [read more…]
This article was inspired by a great question from reader in the UK, Peter (“reader”, “Peter” – that sounds kind of funny, doesn’t it?). Peter writes: Hi Doron, First of all let me say what a great site you have, a fantastic resource. Thank you. I have just bought my first sax (alto) and I [read more…]
Your weekly sampling of some of this past week’s saxophone-related news: RIP Gerry Rafferty, Whose ‘Baker Street’ Changed the Sax Solo Why do we think Bob Holness was the Baker Street saxophonist? First Listen: Joe Lovano Us Five, ‘Bird Songs’ Joe Lovano Us Five: Live At The Village Vanguard Jason Robinson and collaborators push beyond [read more…]
The popular music of the 1980’s carried with it a powerful legacy for us saxophone players. Unlike the pop music of today, much of which is sampled, sequenced, and looped, the music of the 80’s made frequent use of the saxophone solo. Classic solos on songs such as “Careless Whisper,” “I Can’t Go for That,” [read more…]
This week’s Best. Saxophone. Podcast. Ever. features top Los Angeles session saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer, and arranger Jeff Driskill. Jeff’s played on a multitude of soundtracks including “Toy Story 3”, and has also worked with a multitude of film composers including John Williams. In the world of popular music, Jeff’s played with luminaries such as [read more…]
This article is the third in a three-part series. If you haven’t done so already, I suggest you check out part one and part two. So now that we know what overtones are and why we should practice them, it’s time to put some of this knowledge to practice. While there are a good number of online [read more…]
Howdy fellow Saxerati! I just wanted to take a quick moment to thank you all for your amazing support over the last 4 months of this website’s existence. I’ve had such a great time crankin’ out blog posts, recording podcasts, meeting great people, and chattin’ it up with my new friends on Facebook, Twitter and [read more…]
So here I am with the second installment of Back on the Sax where I detail my adventures as I go from tech and blogging geek back into my former status of professional giggin’ sax player. To read more about the thinking behind this series you can check out my first Back on the Sax [read more…]
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