Category: saxophone
The Most Legendary Saxophone Ever Made | Pitchfork
The horn is imbued with a significant mythology; a theory that Mark VIs were made from recasted artillery shells and church bells in France in the aftermath of the war continues to circulate widely, despite the company’s assertions that it’s not true. “Sometimes the musicians don’t want to know the truth,” Milhaud says. “They just…
Phil Woods, Top Jazz Saxophonist, Has Died : A Blog Supreme : NPR
https://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2015/09/29/444562972/phil-woods-top-jazz-saxophonist-has-died
PSA: Get your horn fixed, NOW!
A few days ago, I picked up my alto sax and my flute from repair by Steve Schoene at Schmitt Music. The alto repair, a Keilwerth SX-90R black nickel, was a full repad. The flute was just in for a checkup and since he did a full repad on the flute about 2 years ago, there…
Review: Vandoren M|O Ligature
The short review: I like it. Being a newer product, I haven’t seen many local stores keep these in stock. And why should they? Yet another ligature product from Vandoren, which comes in various colors and sizes, to take up shelf space. The thing is, it is a good product, at a good price, and…
RIP Frank Foster
From A Blog Supreme/NPR Jazz: Frank Foster, a saxophonist and composer/arranger best known for his longtime association with the Count Basie Orchestra, has died. He passed away in his sleep early Tuesday morning at his home in Chesapeake, Va., according to his widow and manager, Cecilia Foster. He was 82. Foster was a key member…
App review: Fingering Woodwinds for iPhone
Given how huge apps are, I figured there might be something in Apple’s App Store. And lo and behold there is “an app for that.” It’s called Fingering Woodwinds for iPhone ($4.99, iTunes link). The developer does have a separate iPad version as well for $6.99. While I would like to review that one as well,…
How to play Jazz Sax (humor)
I received this in an email this past week. Couldn’t resist passing along. Partially because some of it rings true. How to Play Jazz Sax A Primer for Beginners First things first. If you’re a white guy, you’ll need a stupid hat, the more stupid the better and preferably a beret. Sunglasses are optional, but…
How to clean a woodwind mouthpiece
Let’s face the facts. You probably need to clean your mouthpiece. I’ve known for a while that my mouthpieces needed a good cleaning. It’s one of those things we know we as woodwind players know we should do more often but don’t. After reading this article on NPR about wind players getting sick from the…
Dave Liebman interview on The Jazz Session
On a recent episode of the podcast The Jazz Session, Jason Crane interviewed saxophonist and composer Dave Liebman. It is a great conversation on a variety of topics including the state of jazz education, playing original music as well as the music of jazz giants, his current large group and small group ensembles, and receiving…
How to clean a saxophone
As a private music teacher, I am often asked by my students how do you clean a saxophone. We do cover things such as swabbing after use, wiping the neck tenon dry after use, and cleaning the mouthpiece regularly. One thing I don’t often get to go into detail is how to clean the exterior…