dingero

One of the more interesting things I saw at this year's NAMM show was the Tubax , an Eb contra-bass saxophone one octave lower than the bari. Tuba+Sax+Tubax.  The thing was abut as tall as a regular bari, except that it had more coiled tubing. The interesting thing about it was that the action on the right and left hands are almost parallel. It seems that Oleg is importing the Eppelsheim Tubax and stenciling his name on it. The retail price runs at just $30k for the big horn. Doug Webb... Read Full Story

 Here are a few of my upcoming gigs: 2/2- Rob Scheps Big Band w/Greg Gisberg @ Vie De Boheme, 8pm 2/3- George Colligan Quartet @ the Brasserrie Montmartre 2/5- Kerry Pollitzer Quartet @ the Blue Monk, 8pm 2/8- David Valdez, Weber Iago & George Colligan @ Vie De Boheme, 8pm 2/15- David Valdez/George Colligan Afro-Cuban Jazz Quartet @ Ivories, 8pm 3/11- Andrew Durkin's Proto-human ensemble @ the Blue Monk, 8pm 3/24- Nancy Curtin's Brazilian project @ Vie De Boheme, 8... Read Full Story

Jazzenzo Jazz magazine has a page with a ton of scores available for free . George Colligan hipped me to this site, there are over 50 of George's tunes on the site. There are also tunes composed by Nguyên Lê, Bud Powell, Chris Cheek, Sam Rivers, Seamus Blake, Mark Turner, and Kurt Rosenwinkle, as well as a lot of European composers. Jazzenzo Free Jazz scores and transcriptions Read Full Story

On Friday, Jan.28th I played a gig with George Colligan's quartet at Ivories Jazz Lounge. I've played with George several times since he moved here to PDX, but never on a gig where he was the leader. His tunes are quite difficult, but a lot fun to play. We didn't have a chance to rehearse for the gig, so I worked on the material with the help of George's latest unreleased recording for the Steeplechase record label. Jaleel Shaw plays alto on this CD, so I spent a lot of time listing to Shaw... Read Full Story

One of the things I was on the lookout for at NAMM was a really good stand light. I have a small battery powered LED light and an AC powered Manhasset light, but the first isn't bright enough and the second has a cord and a breakable bulb. I went to many different booths before I found one that had everything I was looking for, this turned out to be the Mighty Bright Orchestra light.  The MB Orchestra Light is very lightweight and comes in a durable soft travel bag. The light has a bank of... Read Full Story

If you've ever been to NAMM you know that it is insane. It's like being in a war zone, but with thousands of freaks. Well, of course there are plenty of normal looking music store owners, instrument markets reps and a few haggard looking Jazz musicians, but it is a truly a great place for freak and hootchie mamma spotting. I saw groups of leather clad guys with matching grey reptile eye contact lenses, hordes of surgically enhanced Goth Death Metal mini-skirt/fishnet wearing spokes models... Read Full Story

Last weekend was the NAMM convention. It was my second time going down to SoCal for the convention and was a lot of fun seeing old friends, checking out all the new products, and witnessing all of the freaks on display. I got down to L.A. on Wednesday and played at a club in Little Tokyo called the Blue Whale that night. The gig was part of a weekly residency at the club by the L.A. Jazz Collective, which is a group of musicians who have banded together to produce regular performances of... Read Full Story

Emily, Mike, Randy & Santa Michael Brecker continues to be one the the most respected and emulated saxophonists of our time. The other while perusing Facebook I saw so many people posting Brecker YouTube videos that for a minute I though it might have been some sort of national Brecker holiday, nope, everybody just loves Brecker. Do you need your three-tonic fix first thing in the morning?  Is your Guardala metal piece not giving you enough of that Brecker magic? Do you feel like you... Read Full Story

  Several weeks ago I posted here and on SOTW that my new Just Joe's neck strap (with a large brass hook) noticeably changed the timbre and volume of the sound of my saxophone. This kicked off a long debate on SOTW in which many people scoffed and said I was crazy (or that my ears were deceiving me). Most of those SOTW members who believed my claims had not even bothered to try the large brass hook test themselves. Some of these players were well respected saxophonists and authors and many of... Read Full Story

Saxophonist Jeff Rzepiela is a regular contributor to Casa Valdez and has a great website of his own called Scooby-sax , which offers a ton of transcriptions for download. Jeff has transcribed and analyzed Larry McKenna's solo on My Shining Hour. This solo utilizes a lot of chromatic Bebop approaches which Jeff examines in great detail. Larry McKenna's solo on My Shining Hour (with analysis) Larry McKenna's website Scooby-Sax Read Full Story