[Harri Rautiainen]

Welcome on board, I am pleased you joined this saxophone community.

Please introduce yourself to other members by replying to this post.

~ Harri

 

[cann0nba11]

Hi folks... I'm relatively new here. I've been lurking for a long time and have become more active the past few weeks. My name is Paul Croteau, I graduated from North Texas in 1988 with a Jazz Studies degree. Some highlights: played lots of classical in high school, studied with Phil Delibero; in high school I made All-State twice and All-New England three times In college I was a member of the 2:00 lab band, 1988 Disney All-American College Band lead alto, winner of the 1989 NASA Jazz Saxophone Competition, played /recorded with The Collection and The Dallas Jazz Orchestra, various studio work, television work, tour work, cruise ship work, teaching work... lots of dues. Now I pay the bills as an engineer at a large I/T hosting company.

I'm usually one to instigate lots of debate and discussion since I have strong opinions, BUT also have an open mind. I like and play all styles of music, and I'm also a techno-geek. I founded www.michaelbrecker.com in 1995 and then www.davidsanborn.com in 1996. I relinquished control of both sites to their respective management companies in 2000 when my first child was born. Not long before Michael Brecker was diagnosed I started working with him on a new web project: www.ibrecker.com. He continued to give me content and feedback right up to the end, and the site is a tribute to his life.

My equipment:
Alto - Selmer Mark VI 87xxx
(stolen in March, recovered in May)
Guardala Studio or Rico Jazz ESP 7 hard rubber mouthpieces

Soprano - Yamaha YSS62R
(stolen in March, FOUND on ebay thanks to this forum. Story still developing)
Bari 68 mouthpiece

Tenor - Cannonball
Guardala Studio or Jody Jazz 7 mouthpieces

EWI 1000
Oberheim Matrix1000 + various softsynths on a Macbook

 

[Seasax]

hi, i know i have been around for a bit but i have only joined this year.

i am quite young, but don't be put off by that please
i play lead alto in the UKs national youth jazz orchestra, and hopefully bari soon for the 'small' band (who plays at smaller gigs like ronnie scott's)

i have just got my Selmer SBA alto, which i love!!
i borrow tenor whenever i can, and have a nice yanni elimona sop.

i play all kinds of jazz, big band, funk, some fusion, and also some classical music, although very little.

i don't do any solo recording, but have done big band recording.

 

[Pitagoras]

Hi list

My name is Fabio. I'd played tenor saxophone as professional for almost 10 years, then as stoped playing and spend the last 10 years without touch a sax

Now I'm returning (not as professional of course and this list have been a valuable source of information. After reading lots of threads I was more confident to choose my new instrument: a Yamaha YTS-62S. The mouthpiece, as some of you sugested, will be the vanilla 4C until I can make my sound happen again.

Thank you very much for this forum.
Best regards

 

[Ciaran]

Hello,

My name is Ciarán and I've hardly touched an instrument in the first three decades of my life and now I've rescued my Grandfather's alto from under his stairs where it has been lying since around 1980. I'm still learning, as we all are I suppose, but I'm at the very beginning of that curve and it looks like a long, hard but rewarding climb.
My brother is doing a degree in Music in NUI Maynooth, Ireland (where incidentally I studied Computer Science) so I pester him for music theory and general music questions, but I'll be pestering ye for the rest. I hope that I don't pester too much.
Once I get to a competent level I am curious to experiment bringing the sax into a traditional Irish session to see how it could blend and how much resistance I'll get. If any of ye have any experience in this I'd be interested to hear.
This site is a great resource and I've been reading a lot. Thanks to everyone who contributes.

Ciarán

 

[8R4C9]

Hello,

I'm a newbee here I Majored in Music w/ A.Sax but always doubled on Flute/Clar.and Piano.
My first instrument was Clarinet. I played it for 7 years before switching to Tenor then Alto (I KNow kinda A_backwards lol) But Alto became my favorite instrument. I started Clarinet when I was 10, Flute when I was 12, and Piano when I was 13. and I always Sing.
I'm still very involved in Music whilst trying to raise a family. I'm A Private Music Instructor. At the moment I Play various gigs and try to hold down a part-time job.
My intrests/hobbies are songwriting/lyrics .... and running/out-door sports.
I love alot of different styles of music. Unless it gets too far out there. I tend to lean towards Rock/Fusion/Blues and Country :?
I feel very indebted to my the awesome teachers I had a chance to study under .... they have taught me sooo much.
I'm a Shameless Phil Collins Fan (no secret there I guess ) and was very heart broken when we lost Mike Brecker (he will always be in my heart/memories)
Ok that's all I can think of.

Cheers,
8r4c9

 

[AlvinY]

Hi! I'm Alvin and I don't yet own a sax. I am learning the flute at the moment, and hope to learn the sax soon. I used to play the Yamaha electone organ, and prior to the flute, was playing the Native American Flute.

Cheers!

 

[Seasax]

Hello,

My name is Ciarán and I've hardly touched an instrument in the first three decades of my life and now I've rescued my Grandfather's alto from under his stairs where it has been lying since around 1980. I'm still learning, as we all are I suppose, but I'm at the very beginning of that curve and it looks like a long, hard but rewarding climb.
My brother is doing a degree in Music in NUI Maynooth, Ireland (where incidentally I studied Computer Science) so I pester him for music theory and general music questions, but I'll be pestering ye for the rest. I hope that I don't pester too much.
Once I get to a competent level I am curious to experiment bringing the sax into a traditional Irish session to see how it could blend and how much resistance I'll get. If any of ye have any experience in this I'd be interested to hear.
This site is a great resource and I've been reading a lot. Thanks to everyone who contributes.

Ciarán

what is your grandfather's alto>?

 

[callxitxkarma67]

hii im eliza, and ive been playing the tenor saxophone for over a year now, and have just started on the bari. its definately my life, and its something i enjoy a lot.
im in the jazz band and senior symphonic at my school, and i hope to one day major or at least study music in university.

 

[saxtunes]

hey whats up, i'm Juan from southern california...

i've been playing alto for about 10 or 11 years. i'm thinking of getting me a tenor sax here in the near future so hopefully you guys can help me out by educating me!

 

[ronaldhartwell]

Greetting from Dayton

I am now in my 32nd year of playing saxophone.

Thanks so much for this web resource.

I am interested in sharing stories with other former students of Joe Viola and Herb Pomeroy.

Thanks
Ron

 

[BuffetCrampon]

Hey everyone!!

My Name is Steve, and Ive been playing the Alto Sax for 6 years now, going on my 7th. Im in my high schools marching band, and Jazz band. As you can tell by my SN, I use a Buffet Crampon S1 Alto. Im hoping to get a S4 for christmas, but thats very unlikely. If you have any more questions, just messege me!

 

[marton]

did an intro in "late bloomers" i'm in australia, and learning to play tenor after thirty years of violin. enjoying it immensely and looking forward to learning a few tip here at sotw.

 

[jthole]

Hi all,

My name is Johan, and I recently picked up the saxophone again. I started playing clarinet 30 years ago, and since then switched a lot between alto sax and clarinet. A couple of years ago I completely quit playing (kids, house, new job) but recently I started again. To complicate matters for myself, I now also throw a bari sax in the mix

I started taking lessons again a month ago, and since last week I joined a big band on bari. Therefore I decided to give my alto some rest, and concentrate on the baritone for the next couple of months.

I have very much a classical background, but I am trying to really focus on jazz music now (my teacher tells me that I play jazz like a classical musician ... so there is still a lot to learn )

 

[nellienell]

Hi, I'm Michelle. I'm in a military band in D.C., and I've been playing about 18 years. I mostly play alto for work, but I play bari and soprano as much as I can. What a cool website!

 

[AmandaP]

New Sax player

Hello music lovers!

I have always loved the sounds of the saxophone. Years ago in school I played the Bass Clarinet, and Alto Clarinet. I will be playing the sax for the fist time. I am 28 years old, married, and live in Southwestern Ontario, Canada

I have just purchased a saxophone, online...eek I know. I have read many threads about such purchases. The sax I purchased is a beginner sax. An ebay purchase of a chinese model. I have read both good and bad reviews on it. I don't know how much I will play the sax, and to what extent, so I didn't want to invest a great deal of money to learn with. Will it just be for home?.. or shall I join a band? Who knows. Perhaps after I have decided what the future of me and my sax will be, will I seriously consider choosing a more professional model.

I don't want to be swayed either way, so I am patiently waiting for the instrument to arrive on Wednesday. I am "air playing" the saxophone right now..lol.. reading the music and trying to think about the fingering. It seems quite similar to the clarinet, which makes me happy too.. I will be able to progress quickly
I look forward to discussing all things sax on this forum.

 

[rdeeno]

Howdy there. I'm Richard. I play the guitar but my daugther plays the sax. Lots of good info here. I might try the sax myself when time permits so to help me learn how to read music.

 

[Ken Janak]

Hello,

Although I've been reading SOTW for awhile, I have not posted in a couple years. Now I have the time and desire to participate again. My name is Ken and I've taught public school instrumental music for the past 22 years as well as private lessons on clarinet & saxophone. I am a freelance woodwind player on the side in the Omaha, NE area where I play big band, jazz combo, musical theater and symphony pops gigs. I even lead a Czech style brass band in which I play Eb clarinet.

I'm looking forward to participating in the often lively discussions on SOTW.

Ken

 

[saxandstrings86]

You know, I've been lurking the boards for a couple of years, and joined in June Finally to start posting, and I never made an introduction, so here goes...


I'm an undergrad music major at a small midwestern liberal arts college, finishing my B.A. this year, and then going one of two directions:

1) Graduate program in woodwind specialist and orchestral conducting

2) Securing funding to open a coffee shop/repair studio/instrument sales with my best friend (who happens to be a business major)

Option 2 is looking more like what's gonna happen right now. I love performing and playing and gigging and just "doing" music. Grad school can come later.

I'm currently working up my chops on all saxes, clarinet and flute, gigging with local bands (jazz and concert), and learning repair. Also, I've been buying and selling horns for my friends over the last couple of years and am gradually expanding beyond my own circle to more people and larger markets.

And I'm the pawn shop king.

Nice to meet all of you!

 

[gypsy]

Latebloomer, sort of

Greetings,

I started playing sax years ago in school, played alto mainly, then added tenor and bari along the way. Did the competitions thing, state and regional and all that and headed off to college. I played in the marching and concert bands in college, never really got into jazz, I just prefer classical. Picked up flute and clarinet while in college but didn't play anything again for 25 years.

A year or so ago I was traveling in Germany and saw a sop in a store window. Got an urge and bought it. I messed around a bit and then decided a few months ago to really start playing. I bought a decent alto and started working on music again. I only play for myself, it's a good way for me to relax.

I doubt if I'll ever get to the level that I was before, but it's ok, I'm not trying to win anything, I play to get my mind away from the office and enjoy making music again.

Thanks for having a place to visit and learn.

Cheers,

gypsy