One fellow tenorman I should have written about a long time ago is Bob Mintzer. He is mostly known for holding down the tenor chair for the band “The Yellowjackets” for the last 15 years.
What some may not know is he is an award winning big band leader, writer and arranger. Check out his latest […]

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Jerry Bergonzi is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz tenor players. He is very well known in the jazz world but he should have a much broader audience. I love his dry, dark tone. I really like his gritty altissimo register. He has a total command of his horn along with a formidable […]

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Michael Brecker was absolutely the most influential saxophone player for the last thirty five years. That is saying a lot but I think it’s definitely still an understatement. He was on top of his artistry and constantly improving and moving forward when in a concert in Japan in 2004 he experienced a great pain […]

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Have you all heard about Chris Potter? If you haven’t, you’re missing quite possibly the best tenor player walking the planet these days. I first saw him many years ago while I was watching a film on television on the South Carolina Jazz Festival. Chris was with the Red Rodney Band. Red was the trumpet […]

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Hey all, I finally made the big time! I am on iTunes! A few years back I did some recording for a fellow named Ron Rougeau. Apparently he has that album up on iTunes. So, if you have iTunes, you can do a search for Ron Rougeau and bingo, there it is. It’s called The […]

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Donna and I went for a little drive today out to the town of Marshall on Tomales Bay. We went to the only restaurant in town called Nick’s Cove. As it happens, I teach the owner/chef’s son the saxophone. He was not there today however, so no free meals for us. Here are a few […]

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Well, here we go once again. I got a call a few months ago from an agency out here. They are real big time and so I figure that anyone who is calling them for wedding music is loaded. So, I highballed my price, you can always negotiate down. So the agent sent them to […]

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To say that Jim Pepper was a unique voice in jazz would be an understatement. I got turned on to Jim’s music when I heard him play his signature tune that he left the jazz community, “Witchi Tai To.” This song has been covered by no fewer than fifty artists. It is from a ritual […]

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Bob Berg is one of my all time favorite tenor players. The first time I heard him was in 1973 when I listened to Horace Silver’s album “Silver and Brass.” His solos on Barbara, Mysticism and The Sophisticated Hippie were like something I had never heard before. He had such an unusual way of phrasing […]

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Wow! I don’t get real excited about too many musicians these days but I must say when I heard Emanuele playing his lovely ballad” Children Heart” I was knocked out! This guy has it all. Great tone, expression, emotion, and just plain old chops. Like a lot of Italian players he is saying something new. […]

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