• Dave Liebman’s, “Developing a Personal Saxophone Sound” – Video & Book
• Sigurd M. Rascher, Top Tones
• Dave Liebman Master Class DVD (Roberto’s Woodwinds)

I wanted to include, or at least make you aware of the video/book set titled Joe Allard: The Master Speaks.  I believe it has been retitled Master Teacher: DVD’s for Music Education presents NBC Artist Joe Allard, Clarinet & Sax Principles – Techniques That Work.  (Jeez!!)  Beware in purchasing this however.  While Joe Allard was (and vicariously still is) the absolute source for production of tone on saxophone, this set was made when Joe was in his last bouts with Alzheimer’s.  Joe’s concepts are incredible, but some don’t really come across in the video.  I suggest pairing it with the other books mentioned here.  (Also, sax gossip: I’m told that the ‘former student’ that filmed the video took with Joe for a short period of time, quit because of personal difficulties with Joe, had some fairly ‘not nice’ things to say about him for a while after that, and then went back when Joe was fairly ill – some might say taking advantage – to film this video.)

The following is some stuff I found from www.DinoGovoni.com, got from my teachers, and some resources I’ve used in the past and present.

Great Books on Altissimo:

• Robert Luckey, Saxophone Altissimo: High Note Development for the Contemporary Player
• Rosemary Lang, Beginning Studies in the Altissimo Register (available here)
  • The blog Bassic Sax talks about it here
• Eugene Rousseau, Saxophone High Tones
• Jean-Marie Londeix, Tablature des doigtes compares harmoniques
• Jean-Marie Londeix, Intonation Exercises
• Ted Nash, Ted Nash’s Studies in High Harmonics
• Donald Sinta & Denise Dabney, Voicing: An Approach to the Saxophone’s Third Register
  
• Daniel Higgins & Rheuben Allen Advanced Concepts for the Altissimo
• the previous book Top Tones also deals somewhat with altissimo

It’s been my experience that these books are really great for a direction in the fingerings.  I’ve worked with the Rosemary Lang book myself, which is fortunately BACK IN PRINT.

While I’m sure each of these books has it’s own individual approach to the matter, be aware that every horn and person’s body type/embouchure/set up is different and so the fingerings they present are not set in stone and change between different saxophones (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bari, etc.).  I have a range up to what I call “altissimo double D” which would be in the saxophone’s 5th octave basically by taking their suggestions and then making up the last few fingerings.  You can, like most things, do a fairly quick Google search and find any number of altissimo fingerings.  The best thing I did for my altissimo range was to not just do scales and patterns in the altissimo range ONLY.  I took melodies, or bits of melodies (Star Eyes, Softly, Stella, etc.), children’s songs (Frere Jacques, Mary Had a Little Lamb, etc.) and started them low enough so that only the top note was in the altissimo range and then kept working it up chromatically from key to key.  One of the other things I did was take my Ferling 48 Etudes and read down most of the etudes in the altissimo register trying to maintain as much of the written material as I could (dynamics, articulations, tempo, etc.).

The most important thing that each of these books deal with extensively are the subject of over tones.  A more in depth post on that later, but just wanted to throw that out there.

Books on other extended techniques:

Circular Breathing:

• Trent Kynaston, Circular Breathing for the Wind Performer

Multiphonics:

• Daniel Kientzy, Les Sons Multiples aux Saxophones
• Ken Dorn, Saxophone Technique – Volume I, Multiphonics
• John Gross, Multiphonics for the Saxophone

There are tons of online resources on this subject.  Many people have entire sites dedicated to this subject, so if you simply google “multiphonics saxophone” you’ll get a good starting point with fingerings.  Much like altissimo, these fingerings are very subjective.  Even though you’re getting a concrete fingering, it may not work or not work as well on your horn.  When I first went looking for multiphonic info, I actually found some great fingerings out of a book of Michael Brecker transcriptions by Hal Leonard titled “The Michael Brecker Collection”.

Other than that, I’ve used my teachers as resources, YouTube videos of known artists are always helpful, and chatting with fellow musicians.  I know we’re all always looking for a way to get one step closer to ‘our’ tone  so I hope these resources help.  Since these are not the only things out there, if anyone else out there has other resources they’d like to add leave your suggestions in the comment box below.

Here’s the full show:

This video contains an interview with the band:

More Links:

Check out this link to Do The Math, mentioned a couple of time on this blog, about the band’s schedule the day of the fashion show.

And, finally here’s the original video from Isaac’s site.  I think we can all thank Isaac for making a pretty cool choice in music.

Also, does anyone have any idea where you might be able to purchase the songs performed here, “One Thirty-Three”, “High Waist Drifter”, & “Really Good Attitude”?  If you track it down, leave a comment below (with great thanks in advance).

It’s called the Aulochrome, and it’s the newest edition to the saxophone family.  From what I can hear and tell from the videos I’ve seen, it’s 2 Soprano saxes fused together with a single line of alternate key work allowing each hand to play different notes at the same time between the two horns.  Not only is the body 2 in 1, but the mouthpiece(s) follows suit.  These two fused mouthpieces each have a dedicated reed and share one “double ligature” designed by Francois Louis that wraps around both mouthpieces.  From what Joe says in the video, you can achieve any interval between the two Sopranos depending on the fingerings you use.  Originally conceived for a classical piece premiered by Fabrizio Cassol, Joe is the first to record a jazz record using this horn.

The way the intervals work is each “key” is actually split into two halves.  Top half of the key corresponds to the left horn, bottom half to the right.  Fingering a low D in unison would be the normal fingering on saxophone with both halves covered.  Now, by releasing the bottom half of the D key, the left horn plays a D while the right horn plays an E or an interval of a Major 2nd (whole step).  Each horn has a dedicated octave key as well so you can make either one of these notes jump to the next octave forming a dominant 7th (E1-D2) or major 9th (D1-E2).  The third video of Lovano’s custom case gives you a better look at the mechanics of the horn.

Cool concept and I think you’ll dig the videos, but I do have one critique to make.  Have the people involved in this not heard of a chorus pedal and a harmonizer with a detune function?  I mean no offense to anyone that was a part of this project and I do understand that working with a harmonizer still wouldn’t let you truly improvise with harmony, BUT, it seems like we’re exacerbating the acoustic realm and ignoring the realm of electronics that already achieves the same sounds that Lovano is getting on the Aulochrome.  I know I’m a gear head, and you guys can probably tell my love of effects, but after listening to the videos all I can think of is going onto GuitarCenter.com, purchasing a chorus pedal, and having it sent to Lovano with a gift receipt  That being said, this would be an incredible horn to actually play.  The possibilities are incredible, especially with a level of proficiency; Saxophonists could finally play as part of the rhythm section.  All in all, very cool, fairly new saxophone toy that we can all drool over.  Mozel tov Saxes!!

Link from the Francois Louis site for Aulochrome.com

Videos

Anyway, last weekend’s festival was a whole lot of fun.  While I was only able to attend the Saturday line up, that included the likes of Esperanza Spalding, Marcus Miller, Christian Scott, Alex Han, and Marcus Strickland.  Sunday’s line-up, postponed a bit due to weather which is a pretty usual occurrence when it comes to AJF, included Atlanta’s own Joe Gransden, Spyro Gyra, Jason Marsalis with Diane Schuur, and Hiromi performing with Stanley Clarke.

Trombone Shorty

The first group I got to see was Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.  While Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews is self-admittedly not a jazz musician, his set was enjoyable and one of the cleaner performances of the festival.  The band displayed a little bit of everything, sporting some R&B, some funk twists on jazz and rag time, with a little bit of rock thrown in.

Esperanza Spalding & Marcus Strickland

I was really looking forward to the next group.  From the website, it was some long name of some kind of concept of some band, when all that was necessary were two words: Esperanza Spalding.  Having seen her perform at the Schwartz Center at Emory University, I knew I was in for a treat.  Her show at Emory included a bunch of phenomenal new music set to be released on her next album coming out some time this year, the band was really tight, and the overall show was just a joy to be a part of.  Now, not only was Esperanza performing, but one of my all-time favorite saxophonists just happened to be in the band.  I looked at the jumbo-tron and there was Marcus Strickland.  How could this get any better?  As you can tell, I love Esperanza Spalding’s music.  And, if you truly love someone you have to be honest with them.  So, out of love for her and her music, the performance at AJF 2010 didn’t quite live up to the standard she set back in November ’09.  This band, Revived Alive, was built on the concept of reviving (go figure) different music genres and putting them into a new context.  This particular concert was a mixture of jazz, hip-hop, and funk with maybe a hint of electronica thrown in at one point.  Let me be clear that I have NO problem with the concept.  Hip-hop, jazz, funk, sounds great to me!  I think what hurt this performance the most (as I say from my lowly blog) was really the presentation; the band just didn’t seem rehearsed, especially the endings and getting into, transitioning from one to another, and then getting out of the solo sections.  All the performers are phenomenal musicians, even if you simply look at their professional credentials and solo projects alone.  The group on the other hand just didn’t seem to mesh.  The emcee for the evening, while a great spoken word artist, couldn’t quite get through to the audience.  I think one of the main issues may not have been due to the group, but the problem lay in the sound.  But, more on that in a moment.

Marcus Miller, Christian Scott, & Alex Han

The next group, the headliners for the evening, was Marcus Miller’s band doing a set of music from the Miles Davis release Tutu.  This included one of my all time favorite musicians Christian Scott and a new favorite of mine, Alex Han.  These guys played a monster set, great tunes, great show, and great solos…. if you could actually hear them.  Now, back to my point about the sound.

The Sound

I have to say that the sound provided by AJF 2010, at times, was no less than atrocious.  I feel one of the main reasons Esperanza Spalding’s group didn’t quite come through for the audience were the issues they were having with sound.  And, that group faired better than Marcus Miller’s having only a few feedback issues, a pretty terrible acoustic bass and sax eq, bad solo levels, and a huge delay in fixing some, if any, of these issues.  I simply felt bad for Marcus Miller’s group.  You couldn’t hear Alex Han’s first solo and it was about 3 minutes long.  Eventually you stopped hearing Christian’s sound all together.  And finally, the sound engineers actually eliminated every channel but one, cycling through each mic to find where the feedback was coming from.

Now before I make every sound engineer’s internet-blood boil, let me explain why I needed to write this and why I feel it is so important.  The 5 members of the group Kneebody explained that the sound guy is their 6th member; he makes or breaks the show.  Unfortunately, it’s a fairly inglorious, lackluster position because no one really notices the sound guy/gal unless something’s gone wrong.  So, I really do feel for the sound engineers during these shows.  I can’t imagine the difficulty involved in running even one of these groups, let alone all together and one after the other.  That being said, I feel that if this is something that isn’t remedied in coming festivals this could seriously jeopardize not only patronage and attendance, but artists’ willingness to play the festival at all.

Most musicians right now, especially jazz, are finding homes for their music abroad, be it Europe, Japan, what have you.  The money’s better, the crowds are bigger, the clubs are nicer.  If this sort of problem isn’t fixed, it won’t be difficult for big-name artists like Miller, Spalding, or Scott to look for opportunities elsewhere.  Let’s work to keep them here, help them share their magnanimous and strikingly individual voices with the (contrary to some opinions – I smell another post) substantial audiences in the states.  I, for one, will miss them if they’re gone.

Final Thoughts

The Good

• Good line up, especially for a free festival
• Easy access via MARTA from most of the metro area.  My girlfriend and I each paid a grand total of $4 to get to and see the festival.  In Denver, my friends and I paid I believe $30 each to see Christian Scott’s band at a popular local jazz club, Dazzle.  Driving is also an option, you just have to be prepared to hunt for a space. Some of the local restaurants actually opened up their lots for paid parking, but once again, it’s hunting season.
• Great location (Piedmont Park) with tons of room.  Just ask the people that set up their own tents each year.
• There’s tons of food options (also continued in “The Bad” section)
• The artists, location, and festivities are fit for everyone.  You can check out one act or stay the day; come by your self or bring the entire extended family.

The Bad

• Once again, THE SOUND WAS AWFUL!!!!!!!! Please read the detailed section on sound (if you already haven’t) to get a more detailed view of what was going on.
• Esperanza & Marcus Strickland’s set, Revived Alive, could’ve gone better
• The food, while usually VERY good, did make me AND my girlfriend sick.  We think it was the funnel cake…. BEWARE, THE FUNNEL CAKE!!!!

• There was some chatter on bookFace about there being a “lack of swing” programmed for the festival.  The musicians that weighed in seemed to be in agreement.  Now, there are a lot of differing opinions on this.  I will say that there wasn’t so much a “lack of”, but the people that were booked for the festival are not mainly 1940′s – 1960′s swing players.  The crowd that was there did seem to enjoy most of the festival and that’s important, too.
• Every year, there is always someone that has too much to drink, stumbles around the festival, and eventually falls on a 14 year old version of you, your mom who drove you, and your new jazz poster that you were going to hang in your room as soon as you got back ….. or something like that.  People at the festival keep there stuff together, but you may run into someone that’s REALLY enjoying the day.  All I can suggest is, in that rare occasion, to keep your cool, take a breath, move if you have to, and finally, use a number of very heavy books to flatten a poster back out.

Let me know of your experiences at the festival.  I’d also be really interested to know what you thought of the line-up.

Check out the concert photos they took and also take a look at The Bad Plus’ blog. YES, The Bad Plus has A BLOG!!!!

For those of you that are not familiar with the Atlanta jazz scene, there’s a phenomenal trumpeter by the name of Joe Gransden.  Among other accolades and professional achievements which are far too many to list here, Joe is a “first call” horn player in Atlanta, glorious singer, and has worked closely with Kenny G, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Barry White, and Clint Eastwood.

The Problem…..

The past few months I’ve found myself in a ‘practicing predicament’.  In trying to keep with a very unique practice routine, I was in a rut trying to develop different aspects of my improvisational ability.  I’ve always had a problem (and maybe you can relate) of playing lines that a) don’t stutter start, b) flow through and anticipate changes, c) phrased like actual jazz lines.

Joe’s Advice!

So, jump forward to the Tuesday Night Jam at Twain’s lead by Joe and his band, a host of musicians that are as talented as they are kind.  It’s 1 a.m. and those that chose to hang (mostly musicians my age basking in the aura of the big dogs that just finished their gig) are sharing stories and spirits.  Eventually, rather inevitably for a group of musicians, we get on to the issue of practicing.  “How do you get the right phrasing?”, “How do you get the right language?”, “What do you do about practicing improvising?”, etc., etc.  Joe’s big advice, which to some of you may not seem like a revelation, was as follows:

Take a specific player that you like and want to sound like.  Then pick an album of theirs.  Transcribe every tune and that player’s solos on each tune.  THEN, use that same album and play along with the band.  Joe Gransden commented that it would take 10 times as long to gain proficiency on a tune, chord progression, style, or what have you using a play-a-long.  I have to say after some practice with this method I have to agree.

I relate it to tracing.  When you’re first learning to write or draw, you start out tracing around letters or a picture.  You teach your hand how to move to make certain shapes.  Musically the same thing happens and it starts with the transcription.  Then, when you venture out into improvising yourself, not only is your ear already accustomed to exactly how you should move through the chords, but improvising OVER the other players’ solos keeps your ear and therefore your playing closer to the right note choice and phrasing.  Just using a play-a-long you’re forced to pull sounds/language/phrasing out of thin air.  Also by playing along with a recording, in my opinion, you get a better sense of time and feel.

So far, my experience with this method has really helped my playing.  For some reason, doing this had a night and day effect on what I was hearing and what was coming out of my horn.  Hopefully, this helps all of you out there having this same problem.

Anybody else out there with this issue?  If so, how did you solve it?

Current Effects

• AMT Wi5 Microphone
• Digitech HarmonyMan
• ElectroHarmonix Q Tron+ Envelope Filter
• Boss DS-1 Distortion
• Moogerfooger MF-102 Ring Modulator
• Digitech TimeBender

Previous Effects

• Digitech Vocal 300
• Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Set List (as best I can tell):

Hymn (I Love the Lord) 3:06 – 9:00

Migration 9:00 – 26:07

Alpha And Omega 26:44 – 35:11

Season of Changes 35:28 – 52:47

Let Your Light Shine : 53:07 – 1:02:23

Band:

Brian Blade – Drums

Myron Walden – Alto Saxophone & Bass Clarinet

Melvin Butler – Tenor Saxophone

Jon Cowherd – Piano & Keyboards

Chris Thomas – Acoustic Bass

#1. Jerry Bergonzi’s intro

#2. Jerry Bergonzi explains how to develop a concept of sound

#3. Jerry’s comments on Vibrato. I also have a cool post with an exercise that Branford Marsalis uses.

#4. Neck & mouthpiece test for a full sound. Tenor = Concert E, Alto = Concert Ab

#5. Breathing. Personally, I think this video should go first.  No matter what instrument you play, breathing is THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT.  I agree with his insights about the “yogic breath” (Liebman talks about this in his DVD “The Complete Guide to Saxophone Sound Production”).  BUT, in my personal opinion, beware of what muscles you’re using to move air from your lungs and through the horn.  Some people tend to push too hard with their abdomen and create tension in their throat and hands.  You’re body naturally moves air in and out of your lungs, so just allow it do what it does: BREATHE.  Check out this cool book titled The Science of Breath by Yogi Ramacharaka.  This was recommended to Bobby Shew by Jon Faddis and it’s what Shew recommends to any trumpet players trying to improve their range.

#6. Jerry talks about relaxing your throat for a good saxophone tone. He says a little bit about what I wrote for video #5.

#7. Articulation Pt. 1 – After attending Jerry Bergonzi’s masterclass at Tenor Madness in Iowa, I can tell you that Jerry actually has a fairly strange concept of articulation.  When he’s playing fast lines, he says he ‘half tongues’.  Although his technique isn’t as common among sax players, he makes some very good points about articulation and freeing up his tongue to do as many different things as possible.  His colleague at New England Conservatory and Saxophone legend George Garzone has an opinion completely opposite Bergonzi.  He did a masterclass at Lamont School of Music and explained that he almost NEVER articulates and teaches his students the same.

#8. Articulation Pt. 2

#9. Breaking in reeds – Another tip that might help people out there is putting a date on your reeds.  As soon as I decide to use a reed in my rotation I put that day’s date across the back part of the cane.  This lets me know how/if my reeds are holding up, am I going to have to change soon, are my reeds not lasting very long which could hint at a possible change in size, type, or brand, etc.

#10. Reeds & Embouchure – Explanation of his “non-embouchure embouchure”

#11. Reed Adjustment & the Relationship to Your Equipment

#12. Plug for Rico Reeds and their Reedvitalizer. I actually started using these early to mid 2008 and I hated them.  But, I kept using them just to see how they would affect my reeds in the long run.  I have to say after using them now for a couple of years, they are an invaluable tool.  I just use one 73% humidity pouch in a tupperware container for all of my instruments’ reeds.  These really do keep your reeds sounding and playing consistent.

#13. The Joy of Playing

#14. Jerry talking about his concept behind saxophone embouchure. There are Italian subtitles to this that cover some of the video screen, but it’s still a great tutorial on saxophone embouchure.