What Is Jazz? Revisited: A Millennial Look inside Pandora’s Box
Always one to open new areas of inquiry, searching out pristine topics glistening with intellectual dew, I recently posted this question on Facebook: “What is jazz?” Actually, one or two others before...
View ArticleWhat Is Jazz? Revisited: Part 2
Having dispensed with my rambling prelude, in part 1 of this article, to the question “What is jazz?” let’s get to the question itself. What is jazz? The answer used to be fairly simple, involving...
View ArticleGood-Bye, Phil Woods: In Honor of an Alto Sax Legend
When I got the news last night that Phil Woods had died the day before, on September 29, 2015, I was stunned. Not Phil Woods! Not my main man, my hero on the alto sax whom, among all the luminaries of...
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Pentatonic Angularity for Jazz Improv: Two Exercises
When was the last time I shared a practical exercise for jazz improvisation on Stormhorn.com? It has been ages, hasn’t it. So let me rectify that as best I can by giving you something substantial to...
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Pentatonic Licks with the Altered Dominant Chord
What? Another Stormhorn post so soon? Yes, I’m on a roll. This post is a continuation from the last post, which offered a couple practical exercises on angular playing using pentatonic scales. As I...
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My New Phil Barone Soprano Saxophone: Wow!
I. LOVE. My new Phil Barone soprano saxophone! I mean, I seriously dig this horn. When I sold my vintage Yamaha YSS 62 “Purple Label” a couple years ago, I went into a period of minor mourning. But...
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Stella by Starlight: Phil Woods Solo
So much time has passed since I’ve posted in this blog that I’m not sure how it’s done anymore. My posts these days are all in my Fox’s World blog at my CopyFox editing and writing website. But for...
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Confirmation: Sonny Stitt Solo
Some years back, I offered a transcription of alto saxophonist Richie Cole soloing on the Charlie Parker original “Confirmation.” In this post I’m revisiting the tune, this time featuring Sonny Stitt...
View ArticleThe Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: My First Home Recording
For years I have wanted to do my own recordings of my own music. But the cost of the technology in the past was always prohibitive. That’s no longer the case. Nowadays free digital audio workstations...
View ArticlePhil Barone Tenor Saxophone Review
A World-Class Sax for a Working Musician’s Budget [NOTE: To see photos, click the links starting in the second paragraph. For whatever reason, I can’t embed images properly in this post.] This is...
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