Favorite blog posts, March 2020

See the woodwind blogs I’m following, and suggest others!

Review: NewMusicShelf Anthology of New Music: Alto Saxophone, Vol. 1

It’s hard to escape the inertia of the “standard repertoire.” NewMusicShelf Anthology of New Music: Alto Saxophone, Vol. 1 is an elegant solution.

Favorite blog posts, February 2020

Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, February 2020 edition.

Favorite blog posts, January 2020

Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, January 2020 edition.

Woodwind doubling and saxophone problems

It’s very common for woodwind doublers to be saxophonists first, and approach the other woodwinds later, often because of the demands of flute/clarinet doubling in jazz big band music. So advice for woodwind doublers is often really advice for saxophonists playing secondary instruments. But when players of other woodwind instruments pick up the saxophone, there … Read more

Favorite blog posts, December 2019

Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, December 2019 edition.

The right clarinet or saxophone reed strength “for you”

How do you pick the clarinet or saxophone reed that is the right strength “for you?” You mostly don’t, really. It’s important that the reed be a good match to the mouthpiece. In most cases the primary consideration is the mouthpiece’s facing curve and resultant tip opening. Generally, a shorter curve and/or wider opening require … Read more

Favorite blog posts, November 2019

Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, November 2019 edition.

Review: Duets for the ‘Double-Reed Doubler’ by Gene Kaplan

A few years ago I reviewed Gene Kaplan’s Duos for Doublers, a set of duets for woodwind doublers playing flute, clarinet, and saxophone. I was pleased to hear from Gene again recently about his new Duets for the ‘Double-Reed Doubler.’ It contains seven duets in a variety of styles, with one doubler playing oboe, clarinet, … Read more

Favorite blog posts, October 2019

Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, October 2019 edition.