Jody does it again. After establishing a stellar classical saxophone mouthpiece division using his proprietary CHR Chedeville rubber, he has now used the rubber for a jazz tenor saxophone mouthpiece for the very first time. When played softly, it reminds me strongly of Stan Getz. John Coltrane said “Let’s face it–we’d all sound like that if we could,” and who are we to argue with Trane? When you go for it in a big band or commercial setting, it will stand up to the brass and amplified instruments as well as any mouthpiece out there. I don’t know of any other mouthpiece that can inhabit both those worlds so well. The Chedeville classical mouthpieces Jody designed have made a clean sweep on my Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone, and I told him the Custom Darks will do the same for my jazz setups. Bravo, Jody, and keep ’em coming!

Jody Espina of JodyJazz has founded a new classical saxophone mouthpiece company, using the remarkable new CHR Chedeville rubber. Long an iconic ideal to clarinetists and saxophonists, this is a dream we didn’t even have that has come true! The material, design, state of the art manufacturing and skilled play testing before shipping give us a mouthpiece with an unbelievably warm, dark, glowing tone with great depth and core and a hint of grain that in my opinion is the hallmark of the French school of playing established by “le Maitre” Marcel Mule 80 years ago. “Le Maitre” was the second professor of saxophone at the Paris Conservatoire, succeeding Adolphe Sax himself. These mouthpieces do great honour to their legacy.

The new Vandoren Profile Alto and Soprano Saxophone mouthpieces take the lead in the battle for the heart and soul of classical saxophonists, in my opinion.  There are worthy competitors, particularly on alto saxophone, so I tested these new ‘pieces versus D’Addario Reserve, Selmer Concept, and the previous Vandoren champions, the Optimum SL3, SL4, AL3, and AL4.

This new generation of Vandoren classical saxophone mouthpieces has more than matched their recent challengers.  Round, homogenous, warm and centred with a delicious grain to the sound that helps remind us that the saxophone is a woodwind instrument that just happens to be made of metal. 

 They maintain the “shimmer” that I feel soprano and alto voices should exhibit, but add great breadth and depth of tone to that burnished ring. Great clarity, ease of expression and presence.  Really, incredibly balanced colourfully vocal mouthpieces.  

Competitive mouthpieces that I previously considered very fine indeed, sound somewhat thin in comparison, especially on Soprano.   The pricing is right, too!  I’ve said it before: “You always come back to Vandoren.”

Can’t wait for the Profiles for Tenor and Baritone!

I’ve got the first V16 T6L in Canada, thanks to Vandoren Canada’s generosity. Although these were released over a year ago, dealers in Canada had not stocked them due to the overwhelming plethora of mouthpieces from small boutique outfits and mass manufacturers. My advice to dealers is to treat new items from Vandoren as manna from heaven. There was a similar delay in stocking the “5” openings of the Optimum classical saxophone mouthpiece lineup, and that has certainly changed! The new large chamber jazz tenor mouthpieces will quickly be stocked, too! Vandoren’s descriptions of their products are as bang-on as their consistency, and I can attest that the literature is perfectly accurate in stating that “This chamber is perfect for the player searching for the “vintage” sound. It is even and easy to play throughout the range of the instrument.” I’ll go further…this is the mouthpiece of your dreams, harkening back to the 50’s Otto Link New York Reso Chamber and Florida Tone Edge models. This was before the edgy sound of R& B and Funk of the late 70’s and early 80’s influenced production of the current all-too-common high baffle small chamber mouthpieces. Just my not-so-humble opinion! Massullo Music, the top dealer and repair shop in Canada (if not North America) has ordered more of these in for me and for others to try. My prediction….this will be the beginning of an avalanche of large chamber V16’s!

These babies were historic…the very first time I have not obtained the very first iteration of anything Morrie Backun has designed! I thought nothing could be finer than my set of MoBa’s, so when I heard from Jeremy Backun that there was a new narrower bore model, I did not rush to try it. Morrie was installing sterling silver vent and thumb tubes in my MoBa’s and I tried the Lumiere prototype on his desk…I was dazzled. It’s not just a new model, it’s a better clarinet… with 10 years of making MoBa’s going into the knowledge needed to reinvent the clarinet yet again! I’m primarily a bass clarinetist and the narrower bore Lumiere’s help me with my focus and keep my sound more compact. I just play more fluidly, and the intonation is even better than the MoBa’s! My MoBa’s went to a lucky performance master’s student in Utah. The Bb MoBa was purpose-built for me and was the only one made with the 66+ barrel and the MoBa bell all made from the same piece of wood as the upper and lower joint….hard to give up….except that I have two new loves in my life.

I’ve owned every kind of reed case available, including some custom made for me, and finally have found the ultimate.  Holds your reeds at 40% humidity…which enhances their playability if you have not played them for a while, without keeping them so moist that they deteriorate more quickly.  In addition, the small air holes allow a little movement of air that inhibits the growth of mold.  These are the ONLY reed cases I’ve ever owned in which not a hint of mold shows up on the reeds.  Better response, longer life and no mold! Simple high quality construction that comes apart incredibly easily for cleaning…which is very seldom necessary.  What more can you ask?  Vandoren delivers the goods…as usual!

Welcome to Clarinerd Central, folks.  I just received the first Vandoren BD5 Alto Clarinet mouthpiece to reach North America, and it is as excellent as it’s “brothers.”  Rich, powerful, resonant, free-blowing, and just really pretty.  Very flexible….you can sound as sinuously sweet as a soprano clarinet or big and woody like a bass clarinet or anywhere in between.  Just in time for the launch of the British Columbia Clarinet Choir next month!  First meeting of the primary players is scheduled for early September and the first rehearsal is set for the Chan Centre on October 28th.  I expect a lot of eyebrows will be raised at how amazing an alto clarinet can sound and what it can add to any ensemble.  The Backun Cocobolo bell on my alto doesn’t hurt a bit….

Joey auditioned for the BC Honour Band on Bass Clarinet, his second instrument.  He is primarily a soprano clarinetist, Principal Clarinet with the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra.  Not only that, he was away out of country with a family emergency for a couple of weeks and just came into the studio with very little preparation to record the audition material.  His solid grounding in fundamentals and big chocolatey bass clarinet sound stood him in good stead.

He has two years left in high school and is just hitting his stride.  Way to go, Joey!

I just received the new Vandoren BL5 Baritone Saxophone mouthpiece from Vandoren Canada, and like the AL5 and TL5 it is an instant winner.  All three of these new models are darker and a little more contained than their “4 series” brothers, but not as “polite” as the “3’s” in the Optimum Series.  For me, that is ideal.  I have been playing the the BL4 ever since it was released and it’s gorgeous tone has had plenty of approval from world-renowned saxophonists who have been mentors to me…but…I’ve always had to “throttle back” just a little because of the amazing presence of the BL4.  There have been similar issues with the AL4 and TL4.  That has made these mouthpieces ideal first professional mouthpieces for students because they will “stretch” to jazz applications until the students are ready for true jazz mouthpieces (frequently the V16 A6, the V5 T45 and always the V16 B5!!)    Now my recommendation for all students will be the AL5, TL5 and BL5, followed within a couple of months by the excellent Vandoren Jazz mouthpieces.  

For me, this morning was a revelation as I put the BL 5 through it’s paces on Bach Cello Sonatas and Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei…repertoire I consider custom made for the classical Baritone.  The slightly smaller tip opening, extremely long  facing curve and wider side and tip rails combine to give the BL5 more resistance, a slightly darker colour and a little smoother sound than the BL4.  It’s just what I had hoped for…just 10% off the top end!  I had to scrape reeds a bit more at the base to get full ease and response on the bottom end…very normal with a longer facing curve.  I’m ordering a spare today for students to try!  Thanks, Vandoren for your great products and great support!  

I’m just crazy about the new Vandoren Optimum TL5 Tenor Saxophone mouthpiece…just sent to me for trial by Vandoren Canada.

I’ve been waiting for the TL5 my whole life….all my previous favourite classical tenor mouthpieces have been a little too bright without enough depth and warmth or have been really dark and warm but lack upper partials and great projection.

I’ve been going around in circles for years between the Vandoren TL4 and the Selmer SD20…usually favouring the TL4 for projection….but now that tail-chasing is over.  It is the Optimum TL5, hands down.

Most of my students play the TL4 and the AL4…in fact I’m out of them right now and getting more….I think they may be the best all round mouthpiece there is for students.  They can stretch to jazz but are polite enough for classical, especially for wind ensembles.  

However, both the AL5 and TL5 add more dark warmth to the sound for dedicated classical playing and will work better for chamber groups and orchestras.

I’m dancing on air!