Everything Saxophone Podcast

When it comes to protecting your saxophone, the quality of your saxophone case is super important. When buying a new saxophone, the case that comes with it is usually sufficient… …In fact, cases have improved tremendously over the past few years. But many of these cases are not suitable for traveling, especially on planes. For the past few years, I've been using the BAM Hightech case for my tenor...

It was great catching up with Jeff Kashiwa at the NAMM Show this year. We weren't expecting him to be there, but we saw him at the Trevor James Saxophones booth and had to get the latest from him. The link to his full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our  website . This episode was proudly sponsored by Rovner Products, creators of fine ligatures for saxophone and clarin...

It was 5 years ago that I found out about Trevor James Saxophones. It totally changed my thinking about modern saxophones, and transformed my own sound. Learn more about these special saxes in this episode Live from the NAMM Show 2023, where I talked with Sandro Massullo. And find out why great artists such as Andy Snitzer, Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Cole, Louis Van Taylor, Adrian Crutchfield and many ot...

In this episode, filmed live at the NAMM Show 2023, Melvin Quinones, Founder of Victory Musical Instruments, featured the new Revelation Series of saxophones. There's also a special performance on the Revelation Soprano by Marquinho sax at the end. The link to his full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our  website . Our Sponsor: All the NAMM Show 2023 episodes are spons...

Saxophonist and Composer, Grace Kelly, returns to the Everything Saxophone Podcast; she has been  on the show before , talking about the roles of a band leader and how she picks up her band members. The link to his full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our  website . Our Sponsor: All the NAMM Show 2023 episodes are sponsored by  Rovner Products . In this episode, we tal...

Donna spoke with Matt Ambrose, Chief Machinist, from Theo Wanne Mouthpieces, at the NAMM Show 2023 in Anaheim, CA. The link to his full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our  website . All the NAMM Show 2023 episodes are sponsored by  Rovner Products . We spoke about: the updated Theo Wanne mouthpiece models - Brahma, Shiva and Ambika Matt's advice for finding the best m...

Virginia Mayhew has performed throughout the US, Southeast Asia, Europe, Australia, the Caribbean and Bermuda, and has been an active participant in the NY jazz scene since 1987. Virginia has performed at Carnegie Hall and many of NYC's finest jazz venues. She has also been featured as a leader at many jazz festivals, both within the United States and abroad, and has traveled twice as a representa...

If you were even a little bit curious about Fiberreed, this episode is for you! Donna spoke with Daniel Hofmann, Fiberreed Representative for the U.S., at the NAMM Show 2023 in Anaheim, CA. Dannie gave a complete breakdown of ALL the Fiberreed models, including the 2 new ones added within the past 2 months. The link to his full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our  webs...

In this 2nd episode from the NAMM Show 2023, Donna spoke with Ron Van Ostenbridge from Bari Woodwinds. Bari was the 1st synthetic reed on the market, created by Wolfe Tannenbaum back in the 1950's. The link to his full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our  website . All the NAMM Show 2023 episodes are sponsored by  Rovner Products . We talked about: the new Eco Reed, an...

In the first of many episodes from the NAMM Show 2023, Donna interviewed Saxophonist, Angela Gomez. Originally from Columbia, Angela is now located in Miami, FL and is taking the U.S. music scene by storm. Up to 5 months ago, she was mostly playing alto sax, but under the advise from her good friend, Melvin Quinones (of Victory Musical Instruments), she started to play the Bari Sax. You will hear...

Karl Hunter is a Southern California-based multi-instrumentalist, Studio Musician, Clinician and Music Educator. He is best known for being the featured saxophone soloist with the multi-Platinum-selling, grammy nominated, contemporary swing band, "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy", of which he has been a member for 27 years. As of January 2020, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has played over 3000 shows. Karl has played...

Los Angeles born tenor saxophonist, Mando Dorame, is best known as the co-founder of  Royal Crown Revue. His big tenor sound evokes early Americana, with his roots in Rhythm & Blues and Jazz. Some of Mando's biggest influences are from the tenor titans of the 20th century including Sam Butera, Illinois Jacquet, Big Jay McNeely, Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon. Mando has also studied with Capitol r...

American jazz tenor saxophonist, bandleader and educator, Javon Jackson, came into international prominence as a member of the legendary Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers from 1986 until Blakey's death in 1990. Jackson went on to release 22 recordings as a bandleader and tour and record on over 150 CDs with jazz greats including Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden, Betty Carter, Cedar Walton, R...

As a native of Louisville, Kentucky, Marcus grew up with aspirations of becoming a pro football player, but his goals changed after having committed over 13 years of his young life to the U.S. Navy honorably. During this time, his love for jazz grew by listening and learning from the late Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn and Kirk Whalum, to name a few. Marcus says on one account," I became tr...

This is Part 2 of a 2-part series with Saxophonist, Certified Alexander Teacher, and Wellness Coach, Bill Plake. You can catch up on Part 1  HERE . Bill Plake works as an Alexander Technique teacher, performance coach, and professional musician. He is an AmSAT certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, maintaining a busy private practice working with musicians of many styles and genres, includi...

As a musician, Bill has performed on saxophone throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. He has worked with several creative music and modern jazz luminaries such as Charlie Haden, Ravi Coltrane, James Newton, Nels Cline, Vinny Golia, John Carter, Michael Vlatkovich and others, and has been favorably reviewed in such publications as Downbeat, Jazz Times, the Los Angeles Times, Cadence and t...

Ryan Richman is the Vice President of Eastman Music Company. He has worked in the music business for 27 years in various roles including performing, teaching, sales, and repair. His career began in the repair shop of his local music store cleaning rental returns and helping with sales and rental events. During his time in music retail, Ryan served as a Music Education Representative for many years...

Michael Wilbur is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, song writer, producer and recording engineer. His main instruments are tenor and bass saxophones. He is in the bands, Moon Hooch and Thundersmack, and has his own solo projects under his name. Michael is an avid plant-based athlete, music educator, environmentalist and animal rights activist. The link to his full biography, along with more Resou...

Our special guest for this episode is Paul Winter, best known for his environmental work, and his concerts with the Paul Winter Consort. From the early days of Paul Winter's college jazz sextet, which toured 23 countries of Latin America for the State Department and performed the first-ever jazz concert at the White House for the Kennedys in 1962, to his later ensemble, the Paul Winter Consort, hi...

Matthew Alec is a jazz and popular music saxophonist, founder and Executive Producer at Cleveland Time Records, and bandleader for the high-energy jazz fusion group Matthew Alec and The Soul Electric. His debut album  Cleveland Time  featuring former  Saturday Night Live  Musical Director Tom "Bones" Malone was released in February of 2021. The album charted for several weeks on the NACC Jazz Radi...

Donna Schwartz spoke with Classical & Jazz Saxophonist, Educator, Greg Banaszak. Greg Banaszak is one of the most sought after orchestral saxophone soloists of his generation. As one of the few saxophonists active in both the classical and jazz mediums, he includes a combination of concerto performances, solo and chamber music recitals, and jazz festival appearances. He has presented recitals in s...

Marco Pignataro is a multi-talented saxophone player, composer, and educator originally from Bologna, Italy. He is currently the Managing Director of Berklee Global Jazz Institute. He has shared stages with artists such as Eddie Gomez, Joanne Brackeen, Danilo Pérez, George Garzone, and Terri Lyne Carrington, among many others. Pignataro performs and tours internationally with several musical group...

Odisei Music  is a Spanish company based in Barcelona founded by  Ramon Mañas (CEO). Their story began 5 years ago when Ramon was studying music in Berlin. At that time, he was sharing a small flat with 2 other musicians and began learning how to play the saxophone. From that point, they have been obsessed with creating the smallest and lightest electronic saxophone in the world, to help saxophoni...

In this episode from the NAMM Show in June, Donna Schwartz spoke with musician and the founder of Victory Musical Instruments, parent company of The Growling Sax, Melvin Quinones. Melvin Quinones is a Hispanic American entrepreneur, engineer, musician and the founder of Victory Musical Instruments, parent company of The Growling Sax. With over 30+ years of professional music experience combined wi...

I spoke with Robert Schuenemann, Representative, Endorsee and Artist for Chateau Musical Instruments. These saxophones were the talk of the show! You'll want to check out the video for this episode, so you can see the beautiful hand-painted tenor and alto saxes. Chateau Musical Instruments was founded in 1979, making quality saxophones, and since 2001 also making woodwind and brass instruments. We...