Year: 2021

There are lots of people putting out lists of what to get people. This is yet another one.

iPad – The most essential things you need is an iPad. You can put ALL your music on there. You can take it to gigs. You can write on it using a Apple Pencil (gen 1) or Logitech Crayon. I’d recommend the Crayon. You don’t NEED an iPad Pro. The standard, 2021 current gen iPad is fine. It will set you back about $350 for a 64 gig one. More storage is always better.

Roland Aerophone Pro AE-30 – I was on the fence on this. I still don’t like the key noise. HOWEVER, it is just a JOY to play. It responds great….it plays great….it has amazing, editable sounds. It has Roland Cloud support for getting new sounds. The more I play it, the more I like it. It is THE EWI to get right now. Forget all the other ones. Spend the $1600 and get this.

Just Joe’s Sax Gel Strap – There are a TON of neck straps out there. This one I love. I have two. Might get another when gigging comes back. Absolutely the most comfortable neck strap I’ve used.

Woodwind Design Stands – Honestly, this guy is genius. His stands are amazing. It is so cool to be able to have everything just RIGHT with the horn. Forget those stupid looking Hercules stands. Carbon fiber is the new Yellow. The stands are not cheap. But they are worth it. Why spend thousands on an instrument to have it supported by a $30 stand. Would you spend $30 on a case for your horn?

Get-A-Sax Ligature – I got one of these for my alto. It’s awesome.

A Bag – It’s good to get a bag of some sort to carry all your accessories (microphone, cable, extra reeds, etc). I have this older Landsend laptop bag that I use, that they don’t seem to make anymore. Some sort of larger bag. Made of good material. Sort of like this bag, but made better (this one looks cheap). I believe my bag is canvas, and I’ve had it since the late 90s.

Amazon Basics Case – Get a couple of these to organize your stuff in the bag. A case for reeds. A case for tools. A case for your mic. Protect your stuff. These little cases are great.

Next up will be a software list……enjoy the holidays!

Recently, I’ve been doing a deep dive into Lettuce. Their sax player, Ryan Zoidis has a very interesting setup for the band. Check out this video of him and what he does. Good stuff.

Not sure how I feel about a live action version of this. I mean, I think I am thankful they didn’t change or “reimagine” the opening theme. Here is the opening theme I did like, a long long time ago.

Back in January, Dr. Wally Wallace launched an ambitious “Saxophone Academy” website promising a year of free lessons and materials. I really thought it was top-notch. A great “book” from the Academy had some really great material for tone and technique. Every month a new Jazz Etude (beginning and advanced) was posted with a demo of how it should sound. In all, very well done.

Now, fast forward to August…..and it seems dead. The July etude is still “Processing”. Seems Wally has abandoned this project. I recommend signing up, and getting the materials while you can. There are valuable etudes and a booklet at least.

A Reddit user went about designing a ligature and making it available for free. Check it out. This is on my print list next week.

Marshall McDonald, lead alto with the Count Basie Orchestra, has a criminally under-subscribed YouTube channel. Lately, he has been doing some interviews, with Dick Oatts and Branford Marsalis. Go check it out.