Info and Resources for Jazz Musicians and Jazz Lovers
If you’re a practitioner of jazz or simply one of those wonderful, valued listeners whose appreciation for the art inspires players like me to keep playing, this page is for you. On it, I hope to guide you toward resources that can help you develop as an improviser or deepen your pleasure in listening.
Bear in mind that I’m not a university-level saxophone professor. However, after over forty years of sticking with the horn, I’ve got a few things to share. This page will likely grow at a slow pace. Keep your eyes on it, though, as it’s here with your benefit in mind.
Contact Info
Looking for a standout jazz combo for your wedding reception or special event? Need a sax man for your gig, concert, or recording project? Give me a shout. Email: storm at stormhorn dot com Phone: (616) 540-5420
Sample Tracks
Click here to listen to some samples of my playing. Please cut me some slack with “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To.” In the future I’ll replace it with something current and considerably better. The “Rhythm Comedians” and “Troll’s Blues” tracks are pretty decent, though; they just need to be supplemented with a few tunes from the American Songbook. So whether my sharing these samples at this point works for me or against me is up to you, but for now, they at least give you a little something to listen to until I can make improvements.
The Giant Steps Scratch Pad
Solo like a master on “Giant Steps”! “The Giant Steps Scratch Pad” will help you develop the technique and creativity you need.
Plenty of resources are available on the theory of Coltrane changes, but to the best of my knowledge, this is the first book ever created to help you actually practice John Coltrane’s benchmark tune. Read more about it here.
“The Giant Steps Scratch Pad” is available in C, Bb, and Eb editions. A bass clef editions is coming soon, so stay tuned!
The cost is $12.95 plus shipping. Choose the edition that’s right for you and order your copy today!
Stormhorn Posts on Jazz Theory and Technique
Following are links to blogs I’ve written that deal with theoretical and technical issues of specific interest to jazz students and practitioners. Some of the older posts acquired formatting glitches when I switched to WordPress. I don’t have time to fix them all, but I think the value of the content outweighs the flaws, so I’m putting them out here as they are.
- How to Growl on the Saxophone
- Chromatic Exercises: Descending and Ascending Lines Against Static Tones
- Patterns on Diatonic Fourths
- Shakin’ the Shack: A Dave Koz Alto Sax Solo Transcription, Part 1
- How to Use the Flat Sixth of the Major Bebop Scale
- An Easy Way to Use the Augmented Scale in Major Keys
- A Charlie Parker Lick Around the Cycle of Fifths
- Dominant Seven Flat Nine Exercise on the Cycle of Fifths
- Sixth Interval Exercises for Jazz Improvisation
- Sweeten Your Sax Solos with Sixths
- How to Practice the Saxophone: Four Key Principles That Can Help You Advance
- Cannonball Adderley Alto Sax Solo on “Hurricane Connie”
- Ghosted Notes on the Saxophone
- Lynn’s Grins: A Charles McPherson Alto Sax Solo Transcription
- Chromatic Couplets: Another Way of Unlocking Diminished and Augmented Scales
- Augmented Scale Triad Patterns
- Double-Tonguing on the Saxophone
- A Favorite Augmented Scale Lick
- A Lydian Flat Seven Workout
- Exploring the Lydian Flat Seven Sound
- “Giant Steps” Licks and Patterns
- Using the Augmented Scale with “Giant Steps”
- Sonny Stitt “Au Privave” Solo Transcription for Alto Sax
- Diminished Lick for Cycle of Dominants
- How to Master Circular Breathing on the Saxophone
- The Augmented Scale
- Using Angularity in Jazz Improv
- “Will I Ever Become a Good Jazz Improviser?”
- I Hope You Don’t Mind if I Repeat Myself
- Using Sequence in Jazz Solos: Some Exercises
- Using Substitute Dominants
- Bracketing: Changing Tones for Jazz Musicians
- Bracketing: Some Chromatic Exercises
- Phrygian Dominant Licks: Capturing the Essence of Minor Bebop
- Triad Couplets for Jazz Improv: Two Written Exercises
- Putting It Together
- Saxual Development: Growing as a Player
- Why I Love Playing “Rhythm” Changes
- Jazz Contrafacts
