Author: David Erato
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App review: Fingering Woodwinds for iPhone
Given how huge apps are, I figured there might be something in Apple’s App Store. And lo and behold there is “an app for that.” It’s called Fingering Woodwinds for iPhone ($4.99, iTunes link). The developer does have a separate iPad version as well for $6.99. While I would like to review that one as well,…
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New Study: Playing Bassoon Protects Against Sleep Apnea
SEATTLE, June 10 — Compared with other members of an orchestra, musicians who played a high-resistance woodwind instrument were less likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea, researchers found. In a study of 901 professional musicians, the woodwind players also had a lower risk of apnea than did singers or conductors, according to Christopher P. Ward,…
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Kenny G – Riot Suppressor
Anybody catch the big game? I think my ears have stopped ringing. Being from Wisconsin, we were all very proud to see the Green Bay Packers defeat the Pittsburg Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. As with many Packer games, I spent it cheering on the green and gold with family. While it was loud during…
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2010 Grammy Nominees
The 2010 Grammy Nominees have been announced. Two great blog posts by NPR Jazz and Jazz Articles did a wonderful job of breaking down not only the jazz category, but how jazz fit into other categories. While I will admit I do not really keep up with new and popular music, skimming through the…
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How to play Jazz Sax (humor)
I received this in an email this past week. Couldn’t resist passing along. Partially because some of it rings true. How to Play Jazz Sax A Primer for Beginners First things first. If you’re a white guy, you’ll need a stupid hat, the more stupid the better and preferably a beret. Sunglasses are optional, but…
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Jazz Article: Inside Out, Parts One and Two
Mel MartinOver at the JazzTimes, Mel Martin wrote an absolutely fascinating article regarding the internalization of music. It is a long post (in two parts, actually) and covers a wide range of deep topics. Each paragraph could be a chapter in a book. I’ve gone through and highlighted some of the parts that resonated with me.…
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Year One: Blog Roundup
According to my squarespace billing history, my website has just turned 1 year old! Time for someone to smear cake on its face. But seriously, I thought I would take a moment to update you on the state of the blog, as well as link to some of my favorite and most popular posts. First…
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How to clean a woodwind mouthpiece
Let’s face the facts. You probably need to clean your mouthpiece. I’ve known for a while that my mouthpieces needed a good cleaning. It’s one of those things we know we as woodwind players know we should do more often but don’t. After reading this article on NPR about wind players getting sick from the…
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Dave Liebman interview on The Jazz Session
On a recent episode of the podcast The Jazz Session, Jason Crane interviewed saxophonist and composer Dave Liebman. It is a great conversation on a variety of topics including the state of jazz education, playing original music as well as the music of jazz giants, his current large group and small group ensembles, and receiving…
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Patrick Williams – Aurora
One of world’s finest musical minds, composer/arranger Patrick Williams has released a new album of original big band music. He probably is best known for his work on TV show themes including After Mash, The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore, Columbo, and The Streets of San Francisco, just to name a few. He won multiple…