Gato Barbieri Last Tango in Paris

By Neal 4 Comments

Gato Barbieri- latin jazz tenor sax – Last Tango in Paris. Tenor sax solo intro with the group joining in after a bit.
Gato Barbieri CDs

Leandro Barbieri was born November 28, 1934 in Rosario, Argentina and is known to most as “El Gato Barbieri.” He plays jazz tenor saxophone and also composes. In the 1960s he was part of the free jazz movement and in the 70s he recorded latin jazz. Barbieri had a family of musicians and was inspired to play upon hearing “Now’s the Time” by Charlie Parker.

Barbieri started on clarinet and then moved to alto saxophone. He played with Argentine pianist Lalo Schifrin in the late 1950s. After leaving Argentina for Rome he played tenor sax in the early 1960s with trumpeter Don Cherry. Influential players on Barbieri include Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Pharoah Sanders. His sound has been called “warm and gritty.”

Barbieri brought styles of South America into his music in the late 1960s and his score for Bernardo Bertolucci’s film ‘Last Tango in Paris’ earned him a Grammy and led to a record deal with Impulse! Records.

He was with A&M Records in the late 1970s, and began moving towards jazz-pop on records like “Caliente,” which included his most popular song, Carlos Santana’s Europa.

Gato Barbieri’s Mouthpiece was a metal Berg Larsen and he played a tenor Selmer Mark VI.

World Saxophone Quartet Plays Money

By Neal 1 Comment

The World Saxophone Quartet playing Money in Lovejoy, Illinois.

The World Saxophone Quartet is made up of Hamiet Bluiett, Oliver Lake, James Carter and Greg Osby. Bluiett went to this school and returned to play the concert.

How can I get a good tone/sound from my alto saxophone?

By Neal Leave a Comment

Question:

How can I get a good tone/sound from my alto saxophone?

(Playing for five years)

-Grace

Neal:
How would you describe your tone now and what would you like it to become?
Thanks
-Neal

Grace:
How would you get rid of the fuzziness of the sound of the saxophone?
And make the smooth sound?
My music instructor told me I tongue too hard on my alto sax…any tips?

Neal:
Tonguing is a fairly subtle movement. Sounds like you want to experiment with that and using a lighter movement.

Getting the sound more smooth also has a lot to do with the movements of your fingers.

Also, practicing more days a week will improve your sound if you practice deliberately and listen to yourself carefully.

Hillbilly Flamenco Story

By Neal 1 Comment

Two words, to describe your music, can change your career.

David Feder and his band Salagua-Azul always wanted to get into big music festivals. They had been performing for years, and doing OK, but the agents that book music festivals would never give them a chance.

At a show, a drunk fan said, inbetween songs, “You know what? You guys are HILLBILLY FLAMENCO!” The crowd laughed, and so did the band. They joked about it again on stage that night, and again on the drive home.

The next day they started to notice that they all STILL remembered those two words, “hillbilly flamenco”. It was funny, but described their music well. The crowd liked it. They decided to use it more often.

They started telling the audience, each time they played, “If you are wondering what kind of music this is, this is hillbilly flamenco!” And the end of the show, they’d ask the audience, “And when you tell your friends what kind of music you heard tonight, what kind of music is it?” The crowd would say, “HILLBILLY FLAMENCO!”

And believe it or not… it worked! People started telling their friends about this band, because it was so easy (and fun) to describe.

And then, one day, they were talking to one of those booking agents who books festivals, and told him, “This music is perfect for your festivals. This is hillbilly flamenco!” The booking agent laughed and said, “Ok – I’ve GOT to hear this!”

Now David Feder and his band are playing the festivals they always dreamed of. He told me his career took a definite turn the day they started using those two words to describe their music.
—
Derek Sivers
CD Baby (cdbaby.com) – sales and distribution for musicians
HostBaby (hostbaby.com) – web hosting for musicians

Interested in learning more about Saxophone Tribe?

By Neal Leave a Comment

“How can I achieve that buttery smooth tone that I hear from most professionals? How much of it comes from the player and how much from “processing” a recording?”

By Neal Leave a Comment

Question:

How can I achieve that buttery smooth tone that I hear from most professionals? How much of it comes from the player and how much from “processing” a recording?

-John

My Response:

Some of the effect comes from processing, but most of it (should come from the player).

We often think that our sound depends mostly on our embouchure.
But a large amount actually depends on your fingers.

If fingers do not line up quite right or some are late….. it causes problems.
See and hear more in this video lesson:

https://saxstation.com/what-is-saxophone-schmutz.htm

Thanks

-Neal

Is there an easier way to move fingers (on saxophone) to the note to a fast song?

By Neal Leave a Comment

Question:

Is there an easier way to move fingers to the note to a fast song?

(has been played 1.5 years)

-Jazmine

My Response:

Hey Jazmine,

If you keep your fingers on the pearls of the keys, you move them less distance and you can play faster.

Directly in contact, like how Charlie Parker played if you have seen videos. That’s how I try to move my fingers.

It’s also a matter of practicing so that you are comfortable with any music you want to play.

-Neal

Talk Dirty (Jason Derulo) How to Play Sax Line, (Part of “Hermetico” by ‘Balkan Beat Box’)

By Neal 8 Comments

Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo, the sax line. The background and sax line of the song actually comes from a song called “Hermetico” by ‘Balkan Beat Box’. In that song, the sax plays more. Pretty cool beat and the sax line is catchy. This lesson will be the piece that’s in Jason Derulo’s song. Ori Kaplan plays the alto sax for the line in the song.

Jazmine asked about this song, so I went ahead and learned the sax line by ear.

Note:

At 1:18 in the video the visual indicates there being six notes, but you can hear nine being played. The last three are the same three notes that you’ll see right after that. Those three notes are not repeated.

The ‘solutions’ to the music (the notes for this lesson) are listed below the video. They’re not listed all at once though. They’re listed one at a time. You can scroll down to see one and then if you want to check the next one, you’ll need to scroll down farther. In this way, it’s a slight bit of a hassle to check the next note and I would encourage you to not look unless completely necessary.

Use the fingering chart if you need to.

Try it out! And let me know how it goes and what you think of the format.

Share it on Facebook and Google + if you like it!

Thanks