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Returning to the fold

AndyB

Well-Known Member
Messages
348
Locality
Durham, NC, USA
Hello folks. I've been away a couple of years but hopefully I'm back playing the saxophone for good now. I restarted a few years back after decades of playing mostly guitar and then changed jobs and had to put it down for a while. So I'm restarting again now a second time.

I started reading the forum again recently and I'm glad to see other posts by blues lovers here. I love to listen to jazz, but my main playing interest is blues.

Andy

2007 Yamaha Alto YAS62II / Meyer
195x Pan American (Conn) Tenor / Link
Piles of guitars
 
Home Sweet Home ...

Welcome back mate ...

We ain't met before, I am a recent beginner [a n00b] ;}
 
Welcome back to the caff©, Andy.

Second time round is always better as you can appreciate how much you already know and what is transferable from the guitar.

ENJOY AGAIN!Not™.
 
Welcome back Andy :) " just when i thought i was out, they pulled me back in " lol
 
Thanks all. Its great to be back among such a cool group of people - and to be playing the sax again.

My listening favorites change from month to month but right now I'm collecting a lot of old vinyl recording and really getting into:

EVERYTHING BY COUNT BASIE'S BAND (Wow!), and
ALTO- Cannonball Adderley, Johnny Hodges, Hank Crawford, Eddie Vinson, Louis Jordon, Paul Desmond,older Grover Washington
TENOR-Hank Mobley, Buddy Tate, Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb, A.C. Reed, Johnny Griffin, Eddie Harris, Dexter Gordon
B3 ORGAN-Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff

It took me a while to get into Dexter Gordon but now I'm really liking One Flight Up and Dexter Rides Again. I played flamenco guitar for dancers for 10 years so my taste in rhythm is more towards the precise. Dexter is all over the place (lol), sometimes sounding like he's in a different room from the band, but his sound is just so irresistable. Some ppl knock Hank Crawford because the intonation is sometimes a little out on some of his "late at night after the big gig and partying" recording sessions - but he is just so soulful and has that great blues sensibility that I like so much. Hanks versions of St Louis Blues and Don't Get Round Much Any More are masterpieces. I was surprised at first to discover what great blues players Johnny Hodges and Paul Desmond were. For my tastes, Cannonball Adderley was the true master of BOTH blues and jazz. I love his blues work with Nancy Wilson.

Regards,
AndyB
 
An eclectic mix Andy. Hope Lester Young is swept up in your Basie interest, although he goes way beyond that.

For Hodges, see if you can get a copy of That's The Blues Old Man, one of the last recordings of him on soprano before he dropped it for good (as Ellington wanted to feature him on alto).
YC
 
Hi Andy, Welcome back - Blues!!! - I use Java reds myself :shocked:

Love the Blues.
 
Hi YC, yes I'm just getting over a period of saturating my ears with Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins or else they'd be on this months playlist too. lol

I am a big big Lester Young fan - he even made Tea For Two rock? lol

My favorite Johnny Hodges LPs right now are:
Alto Blue - Johnny Hodges
Joes Blues - Johnny Hodges and Wild Bill Davis
Blue Pyramid- Johnny Hodges and Wild Bill Davis (on the stereo this very moment)

I don't want to step on anyones toes but unfortunately I'm not really a big fan of soprano. Actually thought I didn't like it until I got my hands on some old vinyl LPS of Sidney Bechet. OMG he was incredible!!!! Maybe someone can explain to me why Bechet's soprano sound was so different from the contemporary soprano sound. I don't get it. If I like Bechet, do you think I'll like Hodges on soprano?

Thanks!
 
Hi Les. I'm not sure I got what you meant about Java Reds. I've struggled a lot with reeds. Vandoren reeds work consistently best on my alto, hands down. But I'm still struggling with tenor reeds. Vandoren just isn't working for me on tenor. I'm having better luck with Rico Royals but maybe on only 2 out of 5 are good and 2 out of 5 really suck. With Vandoren my success was only 1 out of 5 on tenor. But for alto, 4 out of 5 of the Vandoren reeds are great. Of course the Meyer hr mpc on my alto is very different from the metal Link on my tenor. 30 years ago 9 out of 10 Rico tenor reeds that I bought was perfect. I don't know what has changed in the quality.
 
The rico Jazz Selects seem to be more consistent that the Royals.
 
I use Rico Royals all the time and find them to be just great.

Jim.

I've been using them pretty much since I started, never had one I couldn't play. Like them. But found the sound varied a lot from reed to reed. I tried the RJS a little while ago and found they sounded better (to me). Also there was a lot less variation between the reeds and I thought this may help.
 
Hi Andy,

Welcome back to the Cafe! I've read quite a few of your old posts which were very useful so looking forward to reading more :D

From a Blues Fan,

Paul
 
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