|
"Contributions to the World of
Saxophone"
Springtime is upon us. I do feel a general renewal and regeneration
of my spirit as the world around me awakes from the dead
of winter. As usual, there are new reviews and transcriptions
to view this time around. What is less-than-usual is the
number of new submissions for review and artists worthy of
a closer look. Many of you should be pleased with the addition
of 10 new transcription samples and 2 complete transcriptions.
Lastly, there are new Tools in the Shed, most importantly
some warm ups for clarinet and flute provided by Sal Lozano.
Many of you know Sal Lozano and his contribution to the
L.A. recording scene. He currently can be seen playing tenor
on the hit show Dancing With The Stars. Last year
I interviewed Sal for Saxophone Journal and that article
is published in the May/June 2008 issue. Click here for ordering
info: https://www.dornpub.com/saxjsub2.html
Eric Daniels, Jenny Hill and Liquid Horn, Bruce Mishkitz
as well as Sam Newsome have all shared their newest releases
relating to the saxophone. It is inspiring to continually
see and hear the seemingly endless contributions to the world
of saxophone. The new reviews on SaxShed.com will hopefully
help many of these artists receive further recognition they
so deserve.
“Contributions to the world of saxophone” conjures
up many recent memories. Two years ago, with all the promise
and hope of springtime, Michael Brecker and I conversed by
email. We spoke briefly of his illness and the hope of an
interview when he was feeling better. As we now know, Mike
managed to squeeze out his final and perhaps most special
recording in the summer of 2006. Remission or recovery was
not meant to be and neither was the intended interview for
Saxophone Journal. Oddly enough, I had a gig to play in Hastings
On Hudson last month. The exclusive community just north
of the Bronx and only minutes from New York City was home
to Michael Brecker and his family until his passing. Following
the recent gig, I set out to discover and witness the house
Michael and his family called home. Part of me felt as though
I was trespassing. Another part of me felt I was paying homage
to an inspiration.
The home overlooking the Hudson made no suggestion of who
had lived there. It was simply a nice home in a nice area
outside NYC. No one could know the genius that lived behind
its stonewall for so many years. I knew. Being close to his
home made me feel close to Mike once again. Many who knew
Mike well comment on how he made them feel special and how
he valued their opinion and influence. During the brief encounters
I had with Mike, he made me feel special as well. You can
read this outstanding NPR article on Michael Brecker’s
final recording, Pilgrimage here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10459940
Recently I have interviewed both Theo Wanne and Jody Espina
for a two-part series on modern mouthpiece manufacturing.
The interviews will be published in Saxophone Journal one
after the other and focus on each individual as well as each
manufacturer. Theo’s spirituality guides him in life
and in mouthpiece design. Jody’s passion and energy
keep him focused on building his company and enjoying his
success. Theo is a bit of a nomad and has lived in Philadelphia,
California, New Hampshire and again his hometown of Bellingham,
Washington over the past few years. Jody on the other hand
has been a longtime resident of New York City and is just
now moving out of Tribeca to the more peaceful surroundings
of Savannah, Georgia. Both talented mouthpiece manufacturers
talk about their own unique perceptions of mouthpieces, players
and manufacturing in the upcoming interviews for Saxophone
Journal.
As mentioned earlier, there are many new transcription samples
added to SaxShed.com this month. As usual, the samples share
part of the completed transcriptions I’ve worked on
lately. A couple new complete transcriptions have been added
as well. Look for Phil Wood’s solo on Just the
Way You Are and David Sanborn’s solo on Ooh
Baby Baby. They are classic pop saxophone solos from
the 70s I’ve intended to add for a long, long time.
Back to the present…As a frequent participant on
the world wide web, I have learned that the measure of success
can – or cannot – be the outcome of a Google
search of our name. Google the name of someone you know may
reveal a wealth of information or a futile search for relevant
information. Recently, I used a search engine to seek out
hits on my own name. (Come on now, we’ve all done it.)
The expected hits came up with saxshed.com and Saxophone
Journal. There were also a few unexpected ones but THIS next
comment was my favorite. Sax on the Web Forum has long been
a great place to share ideas and opinions on the world of
saxophone. One post shared this humbling and enlightening
comment: “Skip Spratt (whoever the hell that is) had
the best tone of all the clips.” I’m flattered
that someone likes my sound – even if they don’t
know “who the hell” I am! J
For those who have asked when I am releasing my own music
cd – there is some progress. I recently took the myspace
plunge and now have a presence there. You can listen to or
download some of my mp3s. It’s one step closer to having
a full-length cd available. Please stop by and drop me a
note at http://www.myspace.com/skipspratt
In life, we can’t take ourselves too seriously. Thank
goodness for the internet. It keeps us informed and in my
case – it keeps me humbled.
SS 5/1/08
|
