Grace Kelly talks saxophone gear, musical influences, and voicing tips!

Behind the Mic: Grace Kelly Interview
Watch Dave Strong, Schmitt Music Director of Saxophone Sales & Specialist, as he interviews acclaimed saxophonist, singer & songwriter Grace Kelly live in the Saxophone Shop!
Grace is a Yamaha and Vandoren Artist, and a brand ambassador for Boston Sax Shop reeds. Join us as Grace talks gear, voicing tips, musical influences and more, recorded at Schmitt Music in Brooklyn Center, MN.

[@monkeyxx]

I've been playing alto for a little over two weeks and these kinds of interviews are super inspiring, thanks!

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Glad you like them! Thanks so much!

[@javierm_uk1588]

Thanks for the interview Dave. Grace is so incredibly talented. It´s sometimes hard to follow her career since it´s somewhat all over the place, which is probably what current times demand, but every time she blows that horn or gives some insights on what she´s worked on, talent just oozes out.

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Agreed - she's an incredible player.

[@alainguinot2595]

Here we have the beauty of intelligence and skill. 🎉🎉🎉❤

[@stangetz534]

cool couch and mic. Great tips! She can do the Getz thang!!

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Haha, it is a pretty cool couch. Thanks Stan, I'm a huge fan! ;)

[@ThorntonMedia]

Great interview, Dave! I love the fact she still has her love for the old Mark VI, but there are some great new rigs on the market these days.

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Thanks Joe! Yeah, very cool - she sounded great on that Yamaha...although I'm sure she'd sound great on most horns. :)

[@thisiskc]

Shout out to dad at 13:30! Thanks to my pal Tony for sharing this with me and the Warne Marsh reference. I got to interview Lee and he talked about referencing Warne in all of his teaching and as "one of the most pure improvisers"

[@MrArnett8]

Great interview Dave! Good to see you're all doing well

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Thanks so much Antoine! Hope you and the family are doing well too!

[@irenechang1031]

Awesome interview! Thanks 👏❤️

[@kalenderquantentunnel9411]

Thanks, Schmitt Music for sharing this with us. There is some minor room for improvement with respect to focus on the interviewer and positioning of cameras/angle of view but other than that, this interview was very well done, great atmosphere. Could go on listening to both of you for hours!

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Thanks so much! Yeah, we're still pretty new to the whole setup, and it's something we'll continue to strive to get better at with time. Thanks for the feedback!

[@dynoroad]

I would like to counter Kelly's advice about beginner gear. I think that changing one's mouthpiece early on can be a good move if you at least have developed a "strong" embochure. With that I mean you can play hard reeds on a small tip opening, regardless if it's a good sound or not. But you need to be prepared for some struggle at the beginning of changing to a new mouthpiece. All too often people stay away from mouthpieces after really short try out sessions and might end up missing out on something that could become incredible. Also I think that once you upgrade your mouthpiece, you shouldn't be afraid to take a leap. I held back the first time I upgraded and went for a tip opening that was just a tad bigger than what my current mpc was. I ended up having to play pretty hard reeds and getting a sound that others commented positively on, while I disliked it very much. All the guys and girls I listened to played contemporary pieces like Beechlers and Dukoffs, yet I got something way more "tame" just for the sake of playing it safe. Funny thing is, recently I stumbled upon the Andy Snitzer show with Everette Harp as a guest player, and his advice was to actually get the same mouthpiece as some saxophonist you enamore, and practice to mimic that tone. His philosophy seemed to be that you would still end up sounding like "you", but with a tone that would be reminiscent of your favourite players. I concur though that the first 2 years of playing would indeed be wasted searching for a "setup".

[@schmittmusicsaxophoneshop4451]

Great feedback and points, thank you!

[@duvelr]

The content is interesting, but the two people looking in the same direction gives the whole thing a fake tone.