George Garzone on Articulating with 8th Notes

[@michaelbutler7075]

" I'm no the master. George Garzone is the saxophone master." --- Michael Brecker

[@LondonSaxophoneSchool]

This is the best lesson on sound ever! Thanks guys for posting this!

[@Merf1195]

You know your hard as balls when you play on a 10 mouthpiece and a 4 jazz select.

[@caponsacchi]

This is utterly fascinating (and I'm a piano player). In college I witnessed students who were capable of transcribing and playing along with solos by Stitt, Jug, Rollins, Mobley, Henderson (Bird was too complex, and Coltrane already seemed beyond reach). But they all obsessed about horns (unless it was a non-relaquered Mark VI), mouth-pieces (Berg Larson was mentioned frequently), and reeds (the primary wallet emptier) along with numerous bottles and chemicals (strictly for the reeds, not the player). The "top dog" among the players at school told us that all of those rapid 8th, or 16th, or 32nd notes--say, in "Donna Lee"--were individually articulated! To this day, I don't know whether to believe him. But there are a few select players who certainly sound like their tongues are catching each and every note--Charlie Rouse (who frequently double-times Monk), Johnny Griffin, Harold Land (who hangs with Clifford note for note), Sonny Stitt (who, in the 20 or more times I caught him, could always match his articulations to fit the tune). After hearing these guys negotiate a set of changes with such precision and finesse, I confess I have a harder time appreciating a Johnny Hodges or Benny Carter, with their legato, slurred articulations (always holding the first 8th note for what seems a "lot longer" than the 2nd 8th). Hawk and Prez managed to be more convincing. Their note choices alone made me forget about the "fast tonguing" requirement. (Hawkins not only arpegiated every chord of the tune but replicated the ride cymbal while doing so). Mr. Garzone's explanation, emphasizing the role of the keys of the horn, makes more sense--and it should give hope to those players who weren't born with a double-jointed hi-velocity tongue! Few piano players can hope to sound like Bill Evans--just look at the wide span of his shoulders and the sheer size of his fingers! But my watching him you soon learn that his power doesn't come from "pounding" or "elbowing" the piano. Rollins said in a recent NPR interview: "I don't play the instrument: it plays me." I interpret that as another way of getting at the spiritual energy Mr. Garzone talks about in this excellent clip.

[@sevenminaya1390]

caponsacchi That was a great comment sir, would love to hang out with you and talk jazz and music! I'm in nyc!

[@baileyayyy5085]

I'm learning Donna Lee right now and I promise you every note is articulated ._.

[@dillonflynn4554]

I think the top dawg was messing with you. I’ve never heard anyone play it like that and I’m pretty sure Bird/Miles don’t do that. I assume they articulate every other note but even then id be surprised if they weren’t slurring a good amount. Playing it all articulated would sound awful without weeks of practicing something totally pointless.

[@rftnjrjt08]

Listen to this guy. He is the word.........

[@davidarbelaez4395]

My teacher at Berklee, He doesn't hold any punches. :D

[@gjbsaxman94]

when you become a serious player, a good reed is incredibly important.

[@LCohenSax]

Garzone is my favorite.

[@roastertat]

This really helped me with a couple of things. Thanks for posting

[@Bronkeykong]

Bwosten, love it. Killer player.

[@markviman]

You obviously don't know George. I do, and he's not egotistical. He's trying to explain that he's not just some kook that tries not to overarticulate with the reed to be a pariah. He's explaining how he fits into the scene and how he teaches his students.

[@BriansThing]

Where is this studio?

[@MattOttoJazz]

The master.

[@PiotrLatoMusic]

He's switching it up all the time though- one of his students told me he found an old box of Rico Royals and fell in love with it for the time being.

[@vpsaxman]

@BlueBurryPimp have you listened to some studio recordings of his? Like "One Two Three Four"

[@byronsigrano6849]

6:04 to 6:08 - this is the crux of the biscuit!

[@JonP1961]

A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

[@girlinagale]

I wish you'd said that about me!

[@tomjwalsh]

@BlueBurryPimp if he sound dry it's coz he wants to, not because any mouthpiece

[@lgovantes1]

This was a RICO commercial and not much on articulating with 8th notes. I am sure as a professor of the sax he can produce more informative videos with real content.

[@jazzheavenofficial]

Cool & the gang!

[@kingpleasure]

Believe me, I know. I've got SAT jars of reeds in vodka. If it doesn't work I'm gonna shitcan the lot and switch to Plasticover for everything. Cane can drive you crazy whether you want it to or not.

[@JohnRennerontenor]

So... What brand tenor?

[@Merf1195]

He endorses the Silver plated RS Berkeley Virtuoso Tenor, but he also plays a Henri Selmer Paris Balanced Action Tenor that used to belong to his uncle (that is the horn you see on this video).

[@JohnRennerontenor]

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought it might be a BA. I have a Super BA for sale #50168... so, I'm always looking for players who play the horn.

[@kingpleasure]

@BAMeynig I hear that, but I read that he used to play #5's with the same opening!!!! BTW regarding his reed comments, it's clear that he doesn't have to practice "reed voodoo" (ala Dave Sanborn witth his little jars) because Rico sponsors him and he can just throw the non-players right into the trash.

[@kingpleasure]

What do you mean? That's a very small opening, and a 4 isn't a piece of plywood. ¨D

[@jonp4846]

"To much talking not much playing -_-" There are plenty of videos out there of George playing. This isn't one of them. That wasn't too hard to understand, was it? When you've been playing as long as he has, then you can judge.

[@mariesalas]

Love his opening line...lol

[@jessesheehan4051]

wow he looks alot like skerik here. great lesson

[@TosaDill]

@BlueBurryPimp Desert*

[@BAMeynig]

a jody jazz 10* with a rico 4. i just shit a brick house.

[@saxfish]

Ja Ja ...yes , I`ve done the VOODOO with my reed...Oh man, you don`t know what I`ve done to get the perfect reed. i`m back to ZERO !

[@sebastienralambozanany9594]

french?

[@derycktrahair8108]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. The tongue..YES. "If you can say it you can SING it, if you can sing it you can PLAY it. (embouchure, fingers, and horns are extras). If I could sing like Sinatra, I would buy a good suit & get a decent hair cut. On Horns we tell a story. ARTICULATION !. Thanks for that lesson.

[@vpsaxman]

@BlueBurryPimp the room is dry. So are your ears.

[@valvetrom]

Write your biography ,might be interesting, all these anecdotes.

[@kingpleasure]

He gets them for FREE from Rico, and they give him hand picked ones.

[@faithduncan9663]

They should make this into a funny vine

[@RipzOnNubes]

with the way he talks about reeds it sounds like he can afford to buy a lot of them...

[@elan5662]

all those guys that try to teach you like to talk about what they do but very little demonstration how to do it? Those who show you what to do do not how to do it properl

[@briandurandwood]

90 sec about articulation (no exercise recommendations). Rest is stories and Rico promo.

[@olivierherment1188]

Blablabla

[@lalocejas83]

hes great but he sounds just like trane.

[@MrPowerSax]

To much talking not much playing -_-

[@cabe277]

He really needs to lose the ego. That vid wasn't helpful at all, just a ramble about his personal accomplishments and how he got to where he's at

[@bobgreen1236]

It ain't braggin' if you can back it up......he can

[@desmondcallier8181]

I’m pretty sure if I taught Mark Turner, Seamus Blake, and Joshua redman I’d be talking about it too