There is a light rain as I sit under my front porch this evening. This is not an ordinary evening by far. It is a Saturday night and I am happily without a gig. My cigar and martini sit next to me offering companionship in the damp, crisp fall night air. Sounds like the beginning of my first novel – but that will have to wait. Right now it’s all about the saxophone!

This evening I am writing to tell of new developments on SaxShed.com and the sax-world at large. There is an exclusive interview with Blue Lou Marini of Blues Brothers and Saturday Night Live fame. Two diverse artist works are highlighted and briefly reviewed as well. Todd Oxford has released Tango Magnetism and J.P. DeLaire his In My Life.

I am proud to offer Lessons by ShedCam for saxophone students not close enough to study with me in person. The world of webcam learning is fascinating and ever growing. This promises to be a great way to reach beyond the geographic borders for both teacher and student. You can read more about ShedCam Lessons HERE .

Many readers are aware of my contributions to Saxophone Journal and I am equally proud to announce the publication of my seventh Cd in SJ. This is called Sax on the Edge and will be featured in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Saxophone Journal from Dorn Publications . Editor Dave Gibson and I decided that it was time to highlight the hard-edged side of the horn. Get ready to put some air through the horn and maybe even growl a bit!

Playing in different saxophone styles has become an acquired taste for me over the years. Becoming a stylistic chameleon doesn’t hurt the employment situation as well. People will call you for the rock gig and the straight-ahead gig if you can cover those styles well. That’s just two examples of many, varied styles where the saxophone is at home. Building off this, I soon will begin working on an audio and video project for Theo Wanne Classic Mouthpieces. Theo will be allowing me to demo a short melody and improv section on each of his new mouthpieces. I look forward to seeing this project to the end where I can showcase my own abilities on Theo’s outstanding mouthpieces. More to come on this…

Summer is over but not without another trip to the beach in Maine and Emilio Lyons in Boston. Here are a couple more pics from summer ’09.

Stay Well and Play Well.
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