One last note for now, leave things as close to how you found them as possible. If you are fed separately, given a green room or a prep area, make sure you do your best to clean up after yourself. Even if there is wait staff assigned to you, make the offer[.....]

The songs are why you are there. I am not going to tell you what songs to play, just that you need to be a jack of all trades when it comes to styles. Standards change, crowds are different and you will figure out what the core style is of your band. There[.....]

As I stated in my last post on the subject the Saxophone is not an instrument known for alternate fingerings, not like the oboe - where it seems every phrase has a different optimal fingering. There are however several very useful alternate fingerings that[.....]

You are there to steer the party. In this gig, you are the Entertainer , not the artist . Your artistic skill is a given, but it is not why people are at a wedding or a party. People are there to celebrate a wonderful personal event and have fun. As with m[.....]

The one most important thing to remember when playing a wedding gig is, That despite any plan, things will change. Set breaks will shift, set lengths will shift, set content will shift. The bride and groom may be stuck doing photos and the jazz cocktail se[.....]

Today I will focus on the Bb. We all know that there are 3 basic fingering for Bb in the middle of the saxophone. After years of playing, I am willing to bet most of us find ourselves using the Bis key as our default fingering, even in passages that make i[.....]

I am a founding member of and continue to play in one of the top wedding/event bands in Nashville -- Top Tier. Top Tier has been named "Brides Choice" by wedding wire for the past 4 years, and I can honestly tell you playing in a wedding/party band has uni[.....]

Saxophone is not an instrument known for alternate fingerings, not like the oboe - where it seems every phrase has a different optimal fingering. There are however several very useful alternate fingerings that we often overlook, or outright ignore for vari[.....]

You have taken the time to plan the rehearsal, now you need to stick to that plan. If you are planning on working on tune transitions, don't play the whole lead in song, and the whole next song, pick a point toward the end of the first song and finish as s[.....]

When you know the purpose, you can then develop a structure or agenda to the rehearsal. What will be the material you will work on? What aspects of the material do you want to focus on? How long do you want to spend on each item? What are the consequences[.....]