Introduction Selmer has released a number of notable products in recent years; including the Supreme and Signature alto and tenor saxophones, the Jazz Flow alto mouthpiece, and a reintroduction of its premium cane reeds. Today, I’m taking a closer look at one of Selmer’s newest offerings: the Jazz Tribute metal tenor saxophone mouthpiece. At first [read more…]
Introduction Since seeing Jay at NAMM 2025 just a few months ago, Jay and his team were nice enough to send me BetterSax Classic saxophones, BetterSax Burnin’ and Classic mouthpieces, and BetterSax Jazz Reeds for tenor and alto saxophone to further play test. I will be sharing a product overview, my thoughts, and sound clips. [read more…]
SPOILER ALERT: There really aren't that many melodic and harmonic "tricks" you need to know to play great solos. After going through just a few of these etudes and their brief analysis, you'll be well on your way to having a rock-solid "improvisational arsenal".
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Introduction Proper reed selection is very important because the reed affects almost every aspect of saxophone performance especially tone, intonation, response, range, embouchure formation and endurance. There are many brands of reeds being produced from cane grown in various regions of the world. Since there are so many reed brands to choose from, it is [read more…]
Introduction I remember seeing Tim play at Jamey Aebersold’s jazz camp when I was in high school, and have been following his playing ever since. Luckily, I was recently able to see Tim play at Jazz Chez Hanny in San Francisco and Tim was nice enough to meet with me to further share his story [read more…]
First, the Usual NAMM Mea Culpa… Ok, so perhaps the title of this article obscures the fact that this is yet another, incredibly belated report from the ancient history that is NAMM 2025. What seems to be the pattern for BSWE each January after NAMM is that there is just so much to share from [read more…]
Introduction Theo Wanne has expanded its saxophone mouthpiece lineup with the new Essentials series, offering “Concert”, “Contemporary”, and “Jazz” models for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. These affordable mouthpieces aim to provide options for diverse playing styles. Bryan Vance, the company’s COO, sent me an Essentials Jazz Tenor 7* and Essentials Jazz Alto 5 [read more…]
Introduction When searching for a new mouthpiece, there are quite a few options to consider. One main question that comes to mind is: “Do I buy a new mouthpiece or consider getting my current mouthpiece or backup refaced?” As there are more mouthpieces on the market than ever before, there has also been more buzz [read more…]
Mea Culpa OK, so, maybe this article is based on an event that, at the time of this writing, happened about 5 months ago (aka NAMM 2024). And maybe we were a bit embarrassed to mention that in the title of this article. However, what you’re about to read most certainly lives up to its [read more…]
Introduction For some saxophonists, developing palm key technique is a challenge. These keys, used to finger the notes of the upper register, specifically high D, Eb, E and F, can feel awkward to many performers since to depress these notes, the left-hand palm must be used. In addition, high E and F are notes whose [read more…]
Introduction I had the opportunity to review Marc Jean’s original ligatures , (see picture below) back in 2014 for alto and tenor saxophone. Although I have play tested many ligatures over the years for alto and tenor saxophone and tend to switch from time to time, I have stayed with the original Marc Jean ligature [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!
