I am rapidly approaching the 50th anniversary of my first gig where I was paid for playing the saxophone. Over the years, I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and hopefully I’ve learned a little bit from at least some of them. Here are a few tips, based on my experience, which will help keep you working. […]

I often tell people that I’ve been to every continent except Antarctica with a saxophone (a true fact), and this has taught be a lot of do’s and don’ts about traveling with a horn. I’ve also been in the saxophone repair business since right after the Earth cooled, and have learned a thing or two […]

    I used to work at a music store where the owner (a very funny guy) used to talk about the “big saxophone scare of the 1920’s†when virtually every home had at least one saxophone and American instrument factories were straining to meet demand. We’re still living with the remnants of this big […]

It happened again recently: a musician leaving a gig at a Frenchman Street club late at night was robbed at gun point of cash, a cell phone, and other belongings. Fortunately, in this particular instance, his instruments were not taken in the robbery, so he can continue to work. This is an all to frequent […]

Before I begin this rant, as a matter of full disclosure you need to know that I am a member in good standing of Local 174 of the American Federation of Musicians AKA “the musician’s union†and that I first joined the Federation (Local 733) in 1966 (I was required to do so because I […]

  If you take your horn to the repair shop because “it’s just not playing like it should†and there is no obvious problem, then maybe, just maybe, the problem lies with your mouthpiece, and I’m pretty much willing to bet you lunch anywhere in New Orleans (and we do have some DANDY spots to […]

As a matter of full disclosure, I’ve been a member of the AFM since 1966, and have served as a member of a local board of directors, been to several national conventions and regional conferences, and in the 1980′s was a full time, salaried employee, working as business agent for my home local….. I’m currently […]

I get asked this question practically every day. True enough, at a point in the past our company did in fact drink the Kool Aid and sold vintage horns, and true enough, when I was an active professional player, I also drank the Kool Aid and used them, thinking they were somehow superior. In addition, […]

I’m sure that the saxophone world was in an absolute state of shock when the Mk VI was introduced in 1954. Here was an instrument that was light years ahead of anything else available up to that time, both in terms of sound and in terms of ergonomics. There was nothing else available on the […]