What I learned at Berklee - Bob Reynolds

[@AndyA1234]

You hit the nail on the head about challenging yourself. Most people want an easy fix & especially today. Instant gratification. I learned bass by listening to a vinyl records or cassettes and playing back over & over again.

[@bobreynolds]

Haha! Perfect intro hook, Jay! Thanks for having me on.

[@Orlando-wn4uc]

Not only is Bob an amazing sax player, he's a wonderful and inspiring person. It's such blessing when you meet your heroes and find out they are way cooler than you could have ever imagined. Hearing him play live is a truly wonderful experience. No speakers can recreate the magic you hear when he plays. Like his personality, it's incredible.

[@andreuromeroelias8341]

5:45, I took this exercise for the rest of my practicing days; still love it

[@jacquelamontharenberg]

Jay...Fantastic interview with my favorite saxophonist and mentor, Bob Reynolds. I am 70 years old and have been playing the Saxophone off and on since I was in the 5th grade. I toured with some great funk and jazz bands in the 70s and have been around some great musicians. I discovered Bob around 2016. He has definitely helped me discipline myself when it comes to practicing. The hardwork and woodshedding has paid off. No doubt about it, you have to spend time working on things that you struggle with and overcome them. The reward makes the effort worth it. After all these years, my playing and tone is the best it has ever been and keeps getting better. Thanks. Keep up the great work.

[@robinreidmusic]

Bob is just such a fine person and very generous with his knowledge and inspiration. Thanks to both of you.

[@nickpilgrim1966]

Bobs an inspiration. Generous, humble and keeps it interesting.

[@jazzbrew68]

"5 minutes a day for 7 years." Wow. That just destroyed my excuse for not having enough time to add piano practice to my bass practice. Great interview. Bob is always dropping nuggets of wisdom. Can't wait to check out the full interview. Thank you!

[@JeffreySaxophoneTallNewton]

Jerry Coker said the same thing in a book 50 years ago.

[@gitarmats]

This was great! Bob is so cool and his KZbin channel has so many valuable videos on it!

[@jpgcomposer]

I had the benefit of sitting in on Hal Crook's improv class at Berklee a couple of times for a bass player friend who was suffering from tendonitis and it was one of the most fun and challenging classes I ever had the opportunity to take. I never got around to taking the whole class, but the dipping my toe in it a few times was amazingly eye-opening. And wow, what an incredible soloist (and composer/arranger!).

[@wyndhl8309]

Listening to Bob - and Jay, of course 👌- makes me think of words such as: humanity, honesty, sincerity, candor, selflessness, self-discipline, encouragement, motivation ... I sense that Bob is as warm and as comforting a parent as he is (or can be) a most inspiring teacher, instructor, guide, coach - educator. Thanks for the informative 👍 interview, Jay. As always!

[@aledemorais9290]

The algorithm brought me to this interview. I am a Brazilian guitarist, and I felt completely in the same shoes, when Bob talked about Hal Crook’s influence and mentoring. It was too long ago to remember details, but we can connect the points for a better story. I didn’t remember that Bob Reynolds was in this class, but it is too much of a coincidence an incident on a Hal’s jazz improv class with a french pianist! Lol. I was the guitar player for that ensemble, but just to clarify the subject in focus was playing double time. The discussion was that Hal was showing that to play fast one doesn’t need to be technically fast, but to understand the subdivisions of the fast tempo, and feel them. The rest was exactly the way that was described. It’s incredible to see how the same event has a similar impact. By the way, a fan of Snarky Puppy music. Congrats.

[@Bassic778]

A fantastic and informative interview!!! The Hal Crook demonstration and comment are priceless! It's better to have the ability and not need to use it than to not have the ability and need to use it!!!

[@sunshower1972]

Bob's answer about Joshua Redman and then switch to Stan Getz and then the 1959 answer makes me feel so validated because those were my instant answers for myself 😁

[@bryanh3057]

Hi Jay (and Bob)! As a guitarist with no sax experience at all, I have been a fan of both yours and Bob’s content on here for quite a while. I’ve learned a lot from both of you about great musicianship. Thank you both for what you do!

[@RevolutionTutors]

Yes!!! Finally the right use of podcast feed. Long form version! Can’t wait to listen. Love to see how you keep growing. Keep it up Jay!

[@jordel0577]

Jay: Thanks so much for doing this interview. I really admire you both a lot, and I’ve found you guys are probably the most well rounded sax professional players in the entire world. Why? Because of the detailed oriented approach you guys follow in your respective KZbin channels. It was funny to see Bob struggling on answering pretty much every single question, as I realized he was using his analytical energy to find the “perfect answer”; that’s an indication of how Bob does everything... he is a self declared perfectionist, and the quality of his music and videos in his KZbin channel also show how great he is, as you also are, Jay. You both are heroes and such an inspiration for the saxophonist community. Keep the great work up!

[@bettersax]

Thanks Jorge nice to hear. Thanks for watching.

[@boilingsyvh3060]

@@bettersax Hey, is the guy going around in your comments saying "you won the giveaway" real? If not a lot of people may get scammed.

[@jpgcomposer]

@@boilingsyvh3060 Yeah, that seems to be a completely bogus account intended to scam people. This is an unfortunate recent development with a lot of KZbin channels. Fortunately it is quite obviously a scam (click on the dude's scammed image and you go to a KZbin channel wit no content). I just report it as misinformation and it will eventually go away.

[@boilingsyvh3060]

@@jpgcomposer Hopefully it does, thank you for reporting it.

[@victorprotodyakonov9440]

Thank you!!! That's the Real Learning!!! "How to improvise" by Hal Crook is Great Book!!!!

[@jonniejlo]

Love Bob. Such a cool cat. Took his masterclass once and I always remember him saying "They're just buttons".

[@DNS0875]

Planning is key for me personally- I even keep a practice agenda. What I’m working on, the workouts at what bpm, (Mostly at 60 to start with), what I’ll focus on the next day. I don’t put a lot of time in playing entire sonates over and over again. I play it through and then focus on what needs smoothing out through technique improving excercises and listening to others.

[@rickspyder6159]

One of the best vids I ever seen ... My greatest mentor was my classical guitar teacher and it was how he held the guitar before playing a note.. Many times we didn't even play ...it was the respect of the instrument ...

[@joeyk2604]

Two of my favorite sax players alive right now

[@vintagevinylvets1187]

Love what Bob does! He was the first saxophone KZbin I subscribed to! Better Sax was the second and the only two I subscribe to. 🎧🎷🙏🏻

[@barryoverstreet4876]

Thanks

[@sablezubshruz9811]

Jay, videos like that make my life shine. Thank you. Incredible.

[@JasonBlair]

I would absolutely buy the saxophone power hour book.

[@Laura-wg5jk]

A lot of good stuff in this interview. I listened to the short version then decided it was important to listen to the extended version.

[@AzSamad]

Thanks for sharing the Hal Crook story. I used to take private lessons with Hal and he got me to buy a snare, ride and cymbal just so he could teach me to swing better. I had it in my living room in Boston and was just trying to keep it a low volume not to bother anyone. He’s such a great teacher and every thing he taught worked to fix things each time. Legend!

[@Normantnt]

Great conversation. Hearing thoughts expressed on how things come together in developing one's musical skill and in expressing yourself. Bob is a great example of how successful people are wiling to do those things that unsuccessful people are not willing to do.

[@migsax]

Thx Jay! Great stuff here, honest experience from Bob. I can attest to same at Berklee. I was an arranging major mid 1980s and the woodwind dept held me to account and made me pass the proficiencies for performance majors. Much more difficult. Some old school love and infinitely helpful down the road when I moved to NYC.

[@kevdyer3835]

Great insightful interview Jay! You and Bob are inspiring 😊

[@TheAaronRodgersTao]

Such a great and insightful conversation.

[@jakeybrown101]

Thanks Jay. so pleased to see this. just booked tickets for Ronnie Scott's. cant wait 🙂

[@Kirktracy]

Another great Video, the podcast was great too. Thank you Jay.

[@bettersax]

Thanks Kirk

[@Bahimo3154]

I'm actually a bassist and I huge fan of Bob rynold and I see every video of him on his KZbin channel .

[@eds.9807]

Great confirmation. In any area, prepare for the opportunity you don't know is coming.

[@dwftube]

Just discovered this channel. I'm not a sax player, but I think the stuff covered is relevant to all musicians.

[@darylsol]

17:30+ OMG you just said the very thing that I've been doing my whole life and what I need to do... Your comment is absolutely right Jay ... that's heavy

[@jazzman_10]

Rob rocks! Great musician, great guy, huuuuge tone...

[@lyecats]

Favorite alto and tenor players?... exactly my answers Inspiring and butt kicking. I'm gonna go practice...thanks Jay and Bob!

[@jamiemcgoldrick3350]

Brilliant interview. I have booked tickets to see BR on his forthcoming European tour!

[@ekaufman4800]

Saxophone Power Hour! I'm IN!

[@hhm478]

Moodswing - great answer! I can relate 100%

[@DiegoErnestoGarcia]

MY realSax hero, l learnt so much through the years following him in KZbin, and then You too, Jay. He has allways an inspiring talk.

[@kianiverson9991]

last year he came to my school and preformed with my jazz 1 group, insanely talented

[@francistaylor5097]

Bob is great. Such an inspiration.

[@adamdeem5526]

Great interview and some really great tidbits on how to achieve success through discipline that works in any endeavor. Do the rudiments, challenge yourself with uncomfortable exercises, commit the time to practice and be efficient and disciplined in that time, and use failure as a learning opportunity. This works to achieve a high level of skill at the highest levels of any technical pursuit including musicianship, athletics, aviation, chess, military operations, etc. The true top performing individuals and groups do so because they consistently execute the basics perfectly, automatically, and without hesitation that gives them the freedom to improvise and create within their field.

[@nhr27]

Somewhere in Between is one of the coolest sax albums ever. I absolutely love it. Nothing on that album is extremely difficult to play but it is so tastefully done. Not many sax players that are as good as Bob Reynolds is,. are humble enough to play simple. He does not show off just to show off. I am surprised, however, that 60 BPM is not his favorite tempo. My 60BPM tshirt is now outdated :-) I am still on my quest to find an Alto Sax player similar to Bob and have yet to find one. If anyone knows of any, please let me know. If not, Bob, put out an Alto album please :-)

[@oostapchuk]

Hal Crook. The man who knows the truth about all of it. I love him!

[@ericwobschall8410]

I witnessed an event similar to Bobs’s Hal anecdote. Donald Hunsberger who taught at Eastman was the guest conductor for let’s call it a high level academic festival concert band. There was a baritone figure that was admittedly a tough one, and the first chair wasn’t pulling it off. Donald was stopping the band and making him play it over and over. The player said something about it being impossible. Hunsberger told him to come up to the conductor’s apple box and to bring the horn. He played that figure perfectly with no warm-up. He was ready to pick up the gauntlet that was unlikely to ever have been thrown down. My mantra is that the reason for technical proficiently is so that the lack of it isn’t an impediment to whatever you’re expressing creatively. Trouble is, you then have to restrain yourself until such time that it’s appropriate, and that’s where the finesse comes in. Too much to put on a plaque, but you get the idea. I do love those vindication stores, though.

[@ruby_gleyzes]

Very nice interview!

[@rogermortimer111]

😂😂😂 Great lightning round. Loved it.

[@bobblues1158]

A really fun, informative conversation between two great players. It is always informative to listen to exchange of ideas. This was super!

[@bettersax]

Thanks Bob, check out the podcast version you’re name came up.

[@xsmi]

There REALLY needs to be a love button! ❤

[@jameslawtonmusic9483]

Hi Jay. Great interview. Do think you might be able to convince Bob to share a PDF of the chromatic warm up he mentioned?

[@Cananito]

Wow this guy is amazing 🙂

[@lifesummit73]

Excellent interview, and for anyone who only watched the shorter KZbin version, you should definitely listen to the full length podcast. Solid gold nuggets of ideas, experience, and inspiration for improvising!

[@alanhirayama4592]

What a great interview...

[@joshcharlat850]

For what it's worth...probably not much... I taught skiing for a time. There were exercises that the ski school taught us teachers to do and pass on. Some of them I really felt I executed poorly; however, I found that after doing the exercise, I always skied better. My balance point was always improved.

[@drumsk8r]

Saxophone power hour, I am buying that book if he writes it!

[@sidneiramalho]

Hey Jay very inspiring and fun, hard to ask Bob to answer things fast...LOL he is a sniper, super methodical on everything. Anyone can always take my mouthpieces rather than my sax, reason being I have 20 mouthpieces and only 4 saxes LOL Great video! Thanks for putting this together.

[@icecreamforcrowhurst]

I think jazz college has as much to do with networking as any of the things mentioned by the guest. The ability to network with your peers and recruit them/be recruited for gigs long after college is a major benefit of the system.

[@Radjammin]

Great Interview, I am not familiar with Bob's Playing. I'll have to check him out.

[@williammurray1620]

Such a great interview! Been following him for a couple years now and he is an amazing player. Nice job!

[@blindcanseemusic]

excellent interview

[@calkig]

Petitioning for the "Saxophone Power Hour" to be a thing!

[@kchappelle]

1959, the year I was born. It was a great year for a lot of things. Including watches and saxophones.

[@WJdad]

Wow! Nice editing, Jay. Inspiring! Now I want to find your podcast. Unless it’s on here somewhere. I’ll look around. I’ve found myself treating KZbin like a podcast platform. There are just so many times I want to see the expression of the person speaking, it’s become my default.

[@sax-jaz]

Night Practice is very beautiful!

[@aarono2301]

What does it take toget that warm up written out?

[@spoton9792]

The meaning of Discipline hit hard to me.

[@pgroove163]

discipline..the main ingredient

[@ekaufman4800]

Symmetric rhythmic displacement. My head exploded

[@wushukwan13]

Great interview Jay. Would it be possible to put Bob's chromatic warm up (with his permission of course) that he spoke about on a pdf to learn please?

[@ginabean9434]

Both my sax heros in the same video: I like with both hands.

[@sergeisanych118]

Super !

[@kwootamuckbear9294]

Just peeking in✌🏽🎵🎶🎷

[@s8r647]

Have you covered the pattern on The Way You Look Tonight by Paul Desmond & Gerry Mulligan pattern from 3:13? I keep hearing it everywhere. If you haven’t covered it can you please?

[@s8r647]

Don’t know how to contact you privatey

[@bettersax]

Sorry, you got a reply from a spam bot which are all over KZbin. Google doesn’t do much to stop this so please ignore any comments like that that don’t come from the same account. They use the creators profile photo to trick you. I have to erase those daily.

[@s8r647]

@@bettersax I assumed that wasn’t you lol

[@rich4444hrsm]

Cool, Snarky Puppy rocks!

[@sorenfuhrer401]

Hero, Idol, Legend,...

[@angusramsay6485]

Great interview. And advice to live by. Practice the stuff you can't do yet. Because you can't do it, regardless of whether you like it or want to use it.

[@arnoldstang]

Good questions, good answers. This seldom occurs.

[@sundayjams7399]

I loved his Hal crook story, I have always wished I could play bebop and then never do it. just Like I'd like to know karate and never have to use it.

[@Scxrpionz]

Yes!!

[@vKarl71]

The more you exercise the brain (with appropriate periods of rest) the more unexpected creativity you will encounter in your playing (or whatever your work is). The only thing that would improve this excellent video would be if Bob would *demonstrate* the exercises/techniques he's describing. Maybe he had an injury or something.

[@gangofgreenhorns2672]

Updating Bob's wikipedia page with all of these definitive answers lol.

[@bobreynolds]

Hahaha!

[@serzok1]

Good interview. Thank you both 🙂 365 hours a year…. I should try that. 😉

[@johnwardlaw6204]

Keep the sax, definitely an outlier answer. Great clip selection!

[@andrewjones9417]

I get to shed later … Gonna bust out that Cook Book

[@soulfireblue5721]

Mouthpiece or sax? Really? That's an evil question--I love it!!! lol

[@brianmatthews232]

Very enjoyable, Final question: how long does it take to give a spontaneous answer ... ~ 5 minutes 🤣

[@boilingsyvh3060]

Didn't he play with John Mayor?

[@robstevens9590]

Thanks for this interview! (Snarky Puppy in Vienna & Budapest in October! Probably the closest Bob will ever get to Bucharest.)

[@kennethellison9713]

My left brain was really stimulated, but my right eye feels like it's got sand in it.

[@bettersax]

Haha just got this!

[@Cor.Saxophone]

14:19

[@SaneTheBro]

my sister went to berklee

[@frogow2431]

Wow

[@JeffreySaxophoneTallNewton]

Didn't he meet John Mayer at Berklee? That would be the real reason to spend the $250,000 it costs currently to go there. That's as much as my law school! (Univ of Michigan). Truly, one does not need to get a Jazz degree from a Jazz college (which offers zero real academics) to learn to play Jazz. I highly suggest that Berklee add real academic departments, so that the 95%+ of graduates who don't hook up with John Mayer can support themselves and not be drowning in debt that they'll never pay back. Back when I was considering Berklee, North Texas State or Miami (mid 1970s), only the latter had any academic chops. Add piano practice? (I minored in piano at Oakland University, which had a great Jazz program then, north of Detroit; main instrument is tenor sax). How about add courses that will land you an actual job so that you can achieve a good ROI? Playing Jazz for a living is extremely difficult at best. Much easier to be a "self benefactor" ("this supports that").

[@stevenroland609]

Berklee does have real academics in history, language, psychology , philosophy and everything you must have to fulfill the requirements and a bachelor's degree. It doesn't have a major is those departments. The professors for these classes are adjuncts from the other nearby schools such as Harvard and when I was there, they taught the same thing they claimed. ( in the early 80s) I agree with you the the tuition is too high to for anyone other than someone with a trust fund to attend and therefore I actively discouraged young people from attending. The only education there that is remotely practical is the education degree and the music engineering but not for the price

[@JeffreySaxophoneTallNewton]

@@stevenroland609 Thanks for sharing that, they need to upgrade from "offering classes" to full boat degrees. And not in liberal arts, something to pay the bills with . And yes, I have a liberal arts degree! Humanities. I saw a couple of kids wearing Berklee shirts here in LA last night and almost asked them this but didn't, so, thanks!

[@Jwellsuhhuh]

Berkeleeee

[@geo_sax]

Mehnn.. I know understand why they value finding formal education on the horn... Am hoping that one day I will make it to finance my self some additional information to be informed not just for execution but for the grace of being knowledgeable...

[@juandalg4907]

pro overthinker, sax player on the side

[@plaguedoctor7122]

Erly6