Improvisation is at the heart of Jazz, but knowing how to play stylistically correct in a large Jazz ensemble is also a necessity. How to Play Lead Alto Saxophone in a Big Band offers tips, suggestions, examples, and a play along CD to help you put it all together. The repertoire covers many jazz styles from Basie to Latin and African-influenced music, to ECM and contemporary jazz (the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Bob Brookmeyer, etc.).

Titles are: Swingin' for the Fences * La Almeja Pequena * Hunting Wabbits * Whodunnit? * Count Bubbas Revenge * Get in Line * Horn of Puente * The Jazz Police * High Maintenance * Cut 'n Run.

DVD provides over three hours of audio and video demonstrations of rehearsal techniques and teaching methods for jazz improvisation, improving the rhythm section, and Latin jazz styles.

(Meredith Music Resource). A new dimension in band performance! Improve rehearsal efficiency through a more effective learning environment with access to the students' fullest musical potential. Emphasis is placed upon auditory and visual imagery techniques. Thinking skills and internal pulse are synchronized to assure consistent performance qualities throughout all types of literature demands.

Improvisation is at the heart of jazz, but knowing how to play stylistically correct in a large jazz ensemble is also a necessity. How to Play Drums in a Big Band offers tips, suggestions, examples, and a play-along CD to help you put it all together. The repertoire covers many jazz styles, from Basie to Latin and African-influenced music to ECM and contemporary jazz (the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Bob Brookmeyer, etc.).

(Woodwind Method). This Berklee Workshop provides the intermediate to advanced saxophone player with material that is both technically challenging and musically compelling. Preparatory exercises and reading studies combine to make this workshop an excellent method for improving technique, phrasing and rhythmic accuracy. Includes exercises to take reading and playing skills from novice to expert levels!

The Essence of the Blues by Jim Snidero provides beginners and moderately advanced musicians with an introduction to the language of the blues. In 10 etudes focusing on various types of the blues, the musician learns to master the essential basics step by step. Each piece comes with an in-depth analysis of blues styles and music theory, appropriate scale exercises, tips for studying and practicing, suggestions for improvising, recommended listening, and specific techniques used by some of the all-time best jazz/blues musicians, including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, B.B. King, Stanley Turrentine, and others. The accompanying play-along CD features world famous New York recording artists including Eric Alexander, Jeremy Pelt, Jim Snidero, Steve Davis, Mike LeDonne, Peter Washington, and others. Recorded at a world-class studio, these play alongs are deeply authentic, giving the musician a real-life playing experience to learn and enjoy the blues.

Jazz from Detroit explores the city’s pivotal role in shaping the course of modern and contemporary jazz. With more than two dozen in-depth profiles of remarkable Detroit-bred musicians, complemented by a generous selection of photographs, Mark Stryker makes Detroit jazz come alive as he draws out significant connections between the players, eras, styles, and Detroit’s distinctive history. Stryker’s story starts in the 1940s and ’50s, when the auto industry created a thriving black working and middle class in Detroit that supported a vibrant nightlife, and exceptional public school music programs and mentors in the community like pianist Barry Harris transformed the city into a jazz juggernaut. This golden age nurtured many legendary musicians—Hank, Thad, and Elvin Jones, Gerald Wilson, Milt Jackson, Yusef Lateef, Donald Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Ron Carter, Joe Henderson, and others. As the city’s fortunes change, Stryker turns his spotlight toward often overlooked but prescient musician-run cooperatives and self-determination groups of the 1960s and ’70s, such as the Strata Corporation and Tribe. In more recent decades, the city’s culture of mentorship, embodied by trumpeter and teacher Marcus Belgrave, ensured that Detroit continued to incubate world-class talent; Belgrave protégés like Geri Allen, Kenny Garrett, Robert Hurst, Regina Carter, Gerald Cleaver, and Karriem Riggins helped define contemporary jazz. The resilience of Detroit’s jazz tradition provides a powerful symbol of the city’s lasting cultural influence. Stryker’s 21 years as an arts reporter and critic at the Detroit Free Press are evident in his vivid storytelling and insightful criticism. Jazz from Detroit will appeal to jazz aficionados, casual fans, and anyone interested in the vibrant and complex history of cultural life in Detroit.

Woodwind Basics: Core concepts for playing and teaching flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone is a fresh, no-nonsense approach to woodwind technique. It outlines the principles common to playing all of the woodwind instruments, and explains their application to each one.The ideas in this book are critical for woodwind players at all levels, and have been battle-tested in university woodwind methods courses, private studios, and school band halls. Fundamental questions answered with newfound clarity include:- What should I listen for in good woodwind playing?- Why is breath support so important, and how do I do and teach it?- What is voicing? How does it relate to ideas like air speed, air temperature, and vowel shapes?- What things does an embouchure need to accomplish?- How can I (or my students) play better in tune?- What role does the tongue really play in articulation?- Which alternate fingering should I choose in a given situation?- How do I select the best reeds, mouthpieces, and instruments?- How should a beginner choose which instrument is the best fit?Woodwind Basics by Bret Pimentel is the new go-to reference for woodwind players and teachers.