Author: Tony T
-
My practice has been halted because of carpal tunnel syndrome. That doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying. Hopefully, the corrective surgery will happen within the next week or so. For the past several weeks I have been waking up in…
-
Well, I said wasn’t gonna, but, I did anyway. I bought another mouthpiece. I mentioned it the last post, the Vandoren V16 metal mouthpiece. Having played on it for the past several days, I am super satisfied. First of all,…
-
I was not able to play at all today because of the tingling in my hands. Mostly my right hand. It was really frustrating. Every time I feel like I’m moving forward with anything in my life something happens to…
-
I am still shopping for mouthpieces for my tenor sax. It is because I seem to sound different every time I put on a new reed. Before I quit playing years ago my sound was very consistent. It didn’t matter…
-
For the past several days I have been trying to learn Giant Steps by, John Coltrane. It is probably his most famous tune. It was revolutionary as far as I’m concerned. It came out in 1960. All the years I…
-
The Thrill Is Gone is a famous song by the late B.B. King. It was probably his biggest hit. It has been done and redone by several artists. And it was also done by the Navy Band with me singing…
-
Have You Met Miss Jones – Fishing for comments dammit! Well, here it is again. You’d think I would know this song by now as long as I have been playing it. I play it every day. It’s not that…
-
I am looking forward to practicing today. I am in the process of memorizing 24 songs I have worked on for over a year. It is important to me to be able to play many of the jazz standards. Usually,…
-
Julian Edwin “Cannonball” Adderley was born September 15, 1928, and died August 8, 1975, at age 46. He was a jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. He was thought to be the heir…
-
Slowly I am gaining more endurance while playing. Learning tunes is going well also (I think). My technique is coming back, though it would happen quicker if I worked more on basics (consistency). One thing I seem to have particular…
-
Fishing for comments dammit! All of Me is one of my favorite songs. I first heard it in high school. It’s a relatively easy song to play and was one of the first songs I ever learned to improvise on.…
-
It has been a few weeks since I last posted. I was busy. Doing what? I don’t know. It did include practicing though. In fact, I have close to 16 tunes memorized. Of course, that doesn’t mean I play them…
-
Using Listerine as a cleaning product? When I started playing the saxophone in junior high and on through high school the concept of keeping my sax mouthpieces clean was still a ways off. If you have kids that in junior…
-
Now’s The Time – Charlie Parker Charles “Yardbird” Parker was an amazing saxophonist who gained wide recognition for his brilliant solos and innovative improvisations. He was, without a doubt, one of the most influential and talented musicians in jazz history.…
-
Committing Tunes to Memory I have always had music in front of me in the past, whether practicing or playing gigs. Because of an article I read on JazzAdvice.com, Why You Shouldn’t Be a Real Book Player, I have been trying to…
tonelovette.com 