Miscellaneous OT Symposium Check-In/Talk'em Up Thread

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I'm back. Alive even. For now. All in all a very good Symposium, which was welcome after last year's canceled performances and general sense of chaos. This year only Marty and I brought the chaos and we had a damn fine time with @SaxOfSteel and Leo. We got to rub shoulders with Professor Houlik, and he's just a fantastic cat. We got to see a lot of really young, talented players take the reins and of course, our old friends from the Navy band who've now retired and moved on.

Here is my gripe. My one gripe, and it wasn't the fault of the Navy or anyone else performing. But that one gripe had to do with the main jazz featured guest artist Walter Smith, III. That featured artist always has the last main slot in the big theatre to talk and/or give a master class of some sort. Some are very good at just talking with the crowd; Branford Marsalis being one of he best at it. Others, like Eddie Daniels, just come out with an incredible combo of Navy rhythm players and do an intimate set for those who make it a point to attend. An hour set with Eddie Daniels. That was the best. So when Mr. Smith comes out with a combo who we knew were fantastic from earlier in the day, I was set for a good show. This was my preference as I hadn't heard him play before and was really looking forward to it. Then he says he's gonna play one song and see what everyone wants from there; meaning he'll take questions if folks want to do that. I figure who the hell is going to start asking dumb questions and wrecking this potential great gig. Well... about a dozen or more imbeciles who wanted to hear themselves talk rather than this guy play. And man... it was DRY. Even the drummer got up and left after the second question. This was going straight to pedagogical hell.

Anyhow, the show Walter Smith, III did that night with the Navy Jazz band was very, very good. There was no doubt he was THE MAN on stage and it was a joy to hear him. Very tasteful and inventive and the band did well to showcase him along with their relatively new lineup of reeds.

I didn't get to play a Connfirmation. I got to play TWO! And a Connosax even. First time for that. Still much to go on about, but I'll wait for others to check in.
 
Grumps said:
I figure who the hell is going to start asking dumb questions and wrecking this potential great gig. Well... about a dozen or more imbeciles who wanted to hear themselves talk rather than this guy play.
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Well, it wasn't so much that people were asking questions. It was that the questions we very basic, as in, "How do you learn a standard?" I just hope that person got an answer they could use.

I tried both Confirmations. They seemed pretty good, but I'm not in the market. I tried a Borgani alto which felt really good until I used the bis key, which just seemed difficult for me. I tried a Supreme tenor, which was OK but didn't create envy.

I think the hit among our quartet were Arnold Montgomery's new inexpensive line of mouthpieces. They are milled from purple plastic bar stock, and they played very well. 3 of our four got one. @Grumps was holding out for a deal.

-J
 
SaxOfSteel said:
Well, it wasn't so much that people were asking questions. It was that the questions we very basic, as in, "How do you learn a standard?" I just hope that person got an answer they could use.
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And I'm hoping they went back to their car and found a flat tire. I seriously doubt anyone asking questions even knew who the heck this guy was. None of them noted any personal reference to the cat or anything he'd ever done. I mean... I could understand if this guy had fans and they wanted so badly to interact with their hero... but I didn't get that sense at all. They could have asked him about Berklee, right? Or something he's connected to. I had to get out of there with fifteen minutes to spare, because if anyone asked him an equipment question.., and you knew that was coming... I might have killed somebody.

Friday afternoon would have been the time to make a deal on one of those purple mouthpieces, but I was much more sober in there Saturday morning... and I had absolutely no desire to spend Saturday afternoon in there and miss performances. So no lowball offers made. I got to play enough horns Friday afternoon and left my mouthpieces at the hotel Saturday. But the maker didn't really have anything as open as I would like, so I didn't even try one. If I did get one I would have bought it solely for its color given its price, and that you and Marty seemed to dig them. Saturday afternoon is usually the absolute worst time to be in the vendor room, but it wasn't nearly as crowed as years past; likely due to the locals being discouraged by the rain. I'm sure the vendors are very happy now with Fridays being well attended and open for sales, but Saturday had to be a letdown for them. They really do have just about everything everyone's been dying to try, and then some... Supremes, Signatures, Borgs, Yamis, Yanis, Eastmans and Connfirmations even. We're spoiled here. And it's free.
 
SaxOfSteel said:
I tried both Confirmations. They seemed pretty good, but I'm not in the market. I tried a Borgani alto which felt really good until I used the bis key, which just seemed difficult for me. I tried a Supreme tenor, which was OK but didn't create envy.
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Thanks for the inputs. :thumb: It illustrates the sax is a tool, the performance is the saxist.
Ghr9204 said:
Q: Will I sound like Paul Desmond with this sax?
A: No, you will sound like you.
Q: If I buy that Berg pre-Larson metal mouthpiece replica for $1,000 plus this sax, could I sound like David Liebman?
A: No, you will sound like you.
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:mrcool
 
Getting back to the Connfirmations, when I held them, it reminded me of my curved Conn soprano where I had to move the fixed neck for a better playing angle for my right wrist. When I got to the second Connfirmation with a better neck fit making it easier for me to play, when I moved the neck to where it would have to be comfortable for my left thumb, it became more uncomfortable for my right wrist. I could never get used to that, so it left me rather disappointed. Still, I like to have fun, and they didn't shoo me away when I figured I'm sure they'd take five grand despite asking for seven. Only had a few hundred on me though.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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