Everything Saxophone Podcast

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This week features an amazing saxophonist, composer, educator, and woodwind artist, Geof Bradfield. Geof is an important voice on the Chicago scene where he also teaches at Northern Illinois University. Bradfield hails from Houston and attended the famous High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Since then, Bradfield has called many places home including Washington and New York.

Geof has had the pleasure of sharing the stage and studio with such amazing players as Randy Weston, Carl Allen, Brian Blade, Rodney Whitaker, Etienne Charles, Joe Locke, and Orrin Evans. He also performs and records regularly with fellow Chicago artists including Dana Hall, Clark Sommers, Jeff Parker, Matt Ulery, Marquis Hill, and Ryan Cohan, to name a few. His latest record, Yes and, ….Music For Nine Improvisors is a masterpiece of improvisation, composition, and orchestration.

In this episode we talked many things saxophone and beyond:

• How Geof started playing the saxophone and what his childhood in the Houston area meant to his development.
• Why he calls Chicago home and what the scene there means to him.
• How Geof developed his voice on the other woodwind instruments and keeps improving all the time.
• The inspiration for his latest record and why he chose the players he did.
• How he keeps his students motivated and working together.
• Geof answers our five questions with ease!

Visit Jeff’s website for more information and buy his records!

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Louis Van Taylor has performed with Ray Charles, The Gap Band, Michael Bolton, Stevie Wonder Sheila E., Billy Vera and many more, but he is best known for performing with Kool and the Gang.

Louis was born in Salt Lake City Utah and later moved to Los Angeles CA, where he attended Foshay Jr. High, then  later moved to Pasadena and was a graduate of Pasadena High School. 

Louis has always been one of the top horn live and session players in the business along with leading his own formidable “Louis Taylor Quartet: Hornlicious” featuring Louis Van Taylor and Bijon Watson, Louis Van Taylor Quintet.

You can see all of his work and credits here:

Recording for:   Mariah Carey, Kool and the Gang, Tremaine Hawkins, The Temptations, Mary J. Blige, Eric Benet, Amanda Marshall, Maxine Weldon, Gerald Wilson, Carl Anderson, Norman Conners, Stix Hooper, Wayne Henderson, Big Mountain, UnWrapped Vols 1-3 5, Kevin Toney, Jeff Golub, Ray Charles, Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St. Band, Ike Turner, The Cheathams, Teena Marie, Smokey Robinson

Performances with:  Cameo, Kool and the Gang, Bernard Ighner, Carl Thomas, Freida Payne, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Patrice Rushen, Johnny Otis, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy Smith, Marc Antoine, Micheal Bolton, Billy Vera Big Band, Norman Conners,Teena Marie, The Gap Band, Frank Sinatra Jr., Dave Stewart, Ray Charles, The Cheathams, Les McCann, Kool and the Gang,Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St. Band, Carl Anderson, Oba Babatunde, Della Reese, 

Movie/TV credits: Soul Men, Hurricane, Touch by an Angel, What’s Love Got to Do With It, Man in the Moon, Nutty Professor, The Charle Parker Story, Life, Murder She Wrote, Night Court, Seinfeld, Friday, The Temptation Story, Star Trek Next Generation, Lemonade/Beyonce

Commercial credits:  the Gap, American Express, Honda Ridgeline, Wild Turkey 2016, Microsoft A-I Common/Carlsberg

Educational activities:  USC School of Music Jazz Studies Adjunct Lecturer 1987-1996
                                                  Theater of the Heart Youth First jazz artist in-residence Centennial High School 2015-2018  

In this episode, we talked about:

• His tips for traveling with your horn
• Improvisation advice and how he taught his students at USC
• Differences between creating solos for various genres
• and more

Louis is endorsed by D’Addario and Trevor James Saxophones.

You can find Louis on FaceBook HERE.

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This week is a rebroadcast of an interview Nick did a couple of years ago with the great, Donald Harrison. Please enjoy and let us know what you think!

Donald Harrison isn’t a new name to most jazz fans and this interview is an enlightening look into the life of a legendary jazz musician. We catch up with Donald to talk about his roots in New Orleans, what he’s practicing these days, NOLA jazz fest and what “Nouveau Swing,” means to him. 

Over three decades playing as a professional artist has placed Harrison on stage and on recordings with some of the most influential artists of the 21st century.  He has performed and recorded with an illustrious list of distinguished musicians in Jazz, R & B, Funk, Classical and other music genres. Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, The Cookers, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Lena Horne, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Eddie Palmieri, Jennifer Holiday, Dr. John, Guru’s Jazzmatazz, McCoy Tyner, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Digable Planets, Notorious BIG, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra are just a few of the artists and ensembles he has performed with.

Donald was truly a joy to get to speak with and we want to thank him for his time and gracing us with his presence. Enjoy the episode!

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Perhaps best known as the saxophonist behind the iconic solo from Whitney Houston’s, I Will Always Love You, Kirk Whalum’s passionate playing has been moving audiences all over the world.

Shaped by his Memphis Gospel roots, he shaped his tone through work in the Houston nightclubs in the early 80’s. He initially became known as a sideman and session player with such artists as Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Luther Vandross, Larry Carlton, Quincy Jones, and others. He formed his own band in the 1980’s and has won many awards, including a Grammy in 2011.

Inspired by his faith, Kirk became an ordained minister and earned a Masters of Art in Religion. He serves his community in many ways, including his daily podcast, BIYE (Bible In Your Ear).

In addition to his 25 solo recordings, he is also a part of the popular soul/jazz group, BWB: Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum and Norman Brown.

We talked about:

• Kirk’s thoughts on notoriety
• How his faith plays a part in his career
• How to play soulfully
• The big lessons learned working for Whitney Houston that can help you as a side person
• His current set up, and why he changed it a year ago
• What Kirk recommends every saxophone player work on

You can follow Kirk here:

Website: https://www.kirkwhalum.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kirkwhalum

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirkwhalum/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KirkWhalum/

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This week features all-star saxophonist and educator, Julius Tolentino. Julius is the director of jazz at Newark Academy in Livingston, NJ and is also a veteran of the New York music scene having played with many legends such as, Louis Haye’s Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band and the Louis Hayes Quartet, Eric Reed’s Sextet, Jeremy Pelt’s Quintet, Natalie Cole, Wycliffe Gordon, Connie Francis, Gloria Gaynor, the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, the Christian McBride Big Band, Cecile Mclorin, Michael Feinstein, Dianne Reeves, Jimmy Heath, the Count Basie Orchestra and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. 

Julius also attended the Hartt School of Music where he got to study with the legendary, Jackie McLean. Julius also holds a seat on the Jazz Education Network’s board and is heavily involved in all aspects of music and jazz education.

This conversation centers around education and teaching the younger generation to play and enjoy creative music and jazz. Hope you enjoy this episode!

In this episode:

• Studying with Jackie McLean and what that meant to Julius.
• Why the Newark Academy cares so much about the arts.
• Essentially Ellington and the work surrounding the festival.
• How to get started in the New York music scene.
• How Julius starts young students on the road to success in jazz and music.
• Julius answers the famous five questions.

Visit JTole Music!

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Jody Espina is the founder, President and designer of Jody Jazz clarinet and saxophone mouthpieces.

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Scott Robinson is a saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist that has been making waves in jazz and beyond for quite sometime now. Scott is releasing his brand new album, Tenormore, on April 5th and we caught up this week to talk about this and so much more.

Robinson is well known for his playing on the more non-traditional saxophones including the bass and contra-bass horns but in this episode we talk about how tenor is really the center of his universe. Scott is a singular voice in the music world and really has a lot to teach us about going with your instincts and forging your own path when it comes to being a musician.

This episode features:

• Why Scott is excited to present his new album, Tenormore, to you on April 5th.
• How he got started with the lower range of the saxophone family and what those horns mean to him.
• Why Scott thinks the bass saxophone is a ‘big fuzzy tenor’ and how he has broken this horn out of it’s traditional role.
• The one class that Scott taught at Berklee and why the tenor tradition is so important to him.
• The many projects that he has on tap for this year and beyond.

Check out Scott’s website HERE!

Grab Scott’s new record, Tenormore!

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Roberto’s Winds, at 149 W. 46th St, New York City, is one of the very few music shops left standing today in the world-famous area that used to be known as Music Row.

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David Halliday is a seriously busy man. Whether it’s playing, teaching, or producing, David really cares about the music and saxophone at the highest level. This week we sat down with David to chat about his career, his time spent studying with the great Joe Henderson and many other points that we know you’ll find very interesting and useful to your own lives as musicians. David is the Director of Jazz Studies at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT. He is also an active recording artist and record producer. Halliday has produced or co-produced 18 albums and appears as a sideman on over 60 more. The list of artists he has performed with is impressive and includes such names as, David Archuleta, Sarah Uriatre Berry, Jeff Coffin, Eddie Daniels, Linda Eder, Kurt Elling, Ben Folds, The Four Tops, Galactic, Dizzy Gillespie, Larry Goldings, and Josh Groban.

In this episode we cover:

• What a day in David’s life looks like and how he keeps it all running.
• David’s time spent studying with the legendary, Joe Henderson.
• What David tells his college students when it comes to making it in this business.
• The four quadrants and what David will be focusing on this year.
• Our 5 famous questions!

Check out David’s Website!

Connect with David on Instagram!

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