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Starting in 2017, I began practicing. I had to buy a new saxophone, in fact. After I left the Navy, I had no desire to play anymore. The only saxophone I had was a worn-out alto made by Yanagisawa. I don’t even think it was one of their top models. It had been 10 years since I last played.

I started out playing scales. Then I began trying to learn standard jazz tunes found in the “Real Book.” I thought I knew some of those tunes. It turns out that I didn’t know them at all. I had never sat down and seriously tried to analyze the song structures and chord progressions. I have begun to do that now, and there are still a ton of things I need to learn.

I have worked on several tunes since 2017, 14 or 15 of which I have recorded for audio and video at one point or another. They are not by any stretch great performances or recordings, but they do show a marked improvement in my playing (I think); at least, I think so.

Anywho, I have put together some of the recordings in a mock album I call “SyoSphere.” The name is because I used two mouthpieces from a company called SYOS on many of the recordings. My other favorite mouthpiece is the Vandoren Metal V16. It also sounds fantastic when I have the right reed. The SYOS mouthpieces were 3D printed. Sometimes they sound and work great, and sometimes they don’t. When I can work with them, they feel great. However, regardless of how they feel when I use them, they always sound great in recordings.

I have provided a downloadable version of the recordings. Feel free to download a copy if you’d like to listen. Just click on the picture at the top of this article. The download will happen immediately.