Our jazz band had the opportunity to perform for a public audience at Theopolis Social Club recently! Enjoy this performance of the Latin jazz classic “Caravan” by Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol. This features Garrett Jacobson on piano, Nelson González on bass, and Steve Pruitt on drums.

Jazz clinics and a saxophone masterclass have been the theme of the last month. I have had quite a few Zooms calls for high school and university music programs. No visits to exotic destinations, but great conversations, nonetheless. 🙂 Please contact me if you would like me to visit with your students!

Jazz Clinics

First, I taught a sectional for the OKMEA All-State Jazz Ensemble saxophone section, directed by Dana Landry.

After that, I joined Dr. Mary-Karen Clardy and the UNT College of Music flute studio for a masterclass. My presentation was entitled “The Flute in Jazz and Commercial Music.” We discussed some of my work as a jazz saxophonist, flutist, and clarinetist. Then, we talked about approaching the flute from a classical performance background. The students had lots of great questions!

As President-Elect of the Oklahoma Jazz Educators’ Association, I participated in a jazz education director roundtable for the SWOSU JAZZ A, JAZZ B, and the 51st Annual Jazz Festival. The panel was moderated by Dr. Richard Tirk and featured Oklahoma jazz educators Dr. Terry Segress and Joe Metzer. We discussed music selection, rehearsal techniques, and recruiting strategies for middle school, high school, and college jazz bands. Dallas jazz musician and drummer Stockton Helbing was the guest artist for the festival. Have a listen to his music at his site.

Saxophone Masterclass

This week, I presented “Taming and Tuning Your Saxophone Section” for the Kentucky Music Educators Association conference. In this clinic, I explained saxophone tone fundamentals and gave practical steps for music educators to develop their saxophone section performers. After presenting this at the Texas Music Educators’ Association and the Jazz Education network conferences, I had some great feedback from directors. I thought this was an oddly quiet Zoom call. Afterwards, I found out after the fact that 50 attendees were watching and commenting on the conference website.

Music education colleagues, please contact me if I can offer help to you or your students. I offer clinics in the areas of saxophone, clarinet, flute, jazz improvisation, and music technology. I am glad to work with your departmental budget restraints. Also, you may apply for clinic funding through Conn-Selmer or Vandoren USA.

Looking forward to sharing thoughts on tone, technique, and detailed walkthroughs of the three TMEA all-state band saxophone etudes on Monday, August 3rd from 7:30-9 PM. After 7+ years of online teaching and guiding hundreds of students through this process, I look forward to sharing what I have learned. Texas saxophonists auditioning for all-region and all-state bands are welcome to attend. Register Here!