For some reason, I have always found the blues hard to navigate. The tunes are usually pretty simple, easy to hear, yet, I can't do without hitting some crap notes. I try to do a lot of listening. Especially to tunes that feature sax players doing what I cannot. I'd like to share a tune … Continue reading Scrap Iron
I am still learning slowly. As I've said many times before, there are a lot of tunes I used to think I knew. I had never taken the time to figure out how the tunes actually worked or worked out the harmony or how it was put together. Green Dolphin Street was one of my … Continue reading Green Dolphin
Another band I was introduced to by my high school band director was Tower Of Power. They are a band that features a full, very tight, badass horn section! And at that time the band had as their saxophone player, Lenny Pickett. It was the first time I'd ever heard a saxophone player successfully play … Continue reading Tower Of Power
Tomorrow morning I go in for surgery on my right hand for a carpal tunnel release. It has gotten to the point that all my fingers hurt, including my thumb. Soon I will have to have the left one operated on as well. I should not have waited so long to have it done. I … Continue reading Carpal Tunnel Surgery Today
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, it is the most gorgeous piece of metal I've ever seen. It is made of … Continue reading Progress & Difficulty
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 have been playing I have never attempted to learn it. It was too much of … Continue reading Giant Steps
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 lead. It was about the only thing I could sing well at the time. I … Continue reading The Thrill Is Gone
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 don't know the harmony, the chords, the structure of the song. I know the … Continue reading Miss Jones Again
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 to Charlie Parker. That says something of the caliber of this saxophonist. Adderley is remembered … Continue reading Cannonball Adderley
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. I have had this horn for a little over a year now and I find … Continue reading All Of Me
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