Tonight I’m going to another rehearsal for a jazz quintet. I’m experimenting with mouthpieces at the moment, trying to get a more old-school sax tone. The mouthpiece I have been using since last year (a Michael Brecker II metal Guardala) is huge and gets a loud and “big” sound, contemporary and modern. I then played with an Otto Link 6* last rehearsal but that was still a big sound. Tonight I’m going to try the original mouthpiece that came with my saxophone when I bought it, a Yanagisawa ebonite mouthpiece…..not even sure of the size. Hopefully it will produce a smoother, more mellow tone that will fit in better with a jazz quintet setting. Should be fun either way!!!
Mar 10
Well I did promise to provide some news/an update regarding the Inverloch Jazz Festival and I have not done that as yet….so here it is!!
I was booked to do three performances but only got to do 2, as the last afternoon/evening was washed out. There were storms in the area and two of the venues got closed down and one of them was a venue I was scheduled to play in. I was meant to play on each night of the festival and after the Saturday night performance I drove for a couple of hours to get to my family’s holiday home to spend some time with them. I was on my way back to Inverloch on Sunday for the performance that night when I got a call (Thank goodness!!) from Jon telling me that it had been cancelled. I was pretty close to being back at Inverloch again but turned around and made my way back to Melbourne.
I enjoyed the festival and got to catch up with some people I hadn’t seen in a long time. There was some great playing around the venues through the weekend, from what I saw and heard. I really enjoyed the Air Force Jazz Ensemble, they play some great tunes with really solid arrangements and good soloing. I had fun with the performances I did but didn’t feel I played at my best. The great thing about a music performance is that once you played it, it’s gone…..unless it’s been recorded of course!! I don’t really care to hear any recordings of my playing from the weekend this time around. I was told about some recordings that people really enjoyed that I had done earlier though so am looking forward to hearing those at some point soon.
Have a couple of gigs coming up this weekend which will be interesting. Got a couple of calls yesterday regarding upcoming gigs as well so even though I am not playing as much as I would like to be, things are still happening. Hopefully the calls will keep coming….
Mar 03
This coming weekend I’ll be heading to Inverloch to play/perform and enjoy the annual jazz festival. I’m playing with the Out for the Count big band and a band put together specifically for the event, the Dave Hedges Superband. It is usually a great weekend so am expecting nothing less this year. I haven’t been for a couple of years so it will be good to get back and play some jazz music!!
Just found out the other day that I have to take my baritone, alto and tenor saxophones. It’s going to be quite the car load but luckily they do all fit in my small car!! Not sure what I’ll be using them all for yet. I’m playing 1st tenor with Out for the Count and using the other two saxophones in the Superband. We’re having a rehearsal for the Superband tomorrow night so I guess all will be revealed. Looking forward to it.
Got lots of work to do so will go for now. Will be back after the weekend for a run down of the jazz festival.
