Hey folks, Strange thing happened the other day. I got a royalty check. Yeah I know. Incredible. As it turns out, all the $.000000002’s that the streaming services give you eventually add up to a two figure dollar amount that they finally send you. In this case, I got a boost on Spotify because I … Continue reading
Author Archives: Chris Fagan
Shedding Some Swinette…no further comment
Night and Day with Feline Interruption
Hey folks, I stuck with clarinet last week and practiced some transcribed Chet Baker solos that sit really awkwardly across the break. Anyway, here’s what I came up with today. The video lapses and you can’t see it, but I was interrupted and had to stop to keep the kitten from attacking the mic (see … Continue reading
Reunion with Clarinet (after literally decades)
Hello again folks, I pulled out the clarinet and made this thing. I think since I switched to tenor from alto, my embouchure got a little more flexible so it didn’t go too badly. I had literally given up on this axe because there are so many great doublers in Seattle, I couldn’t use it … Continue reading
Joshua
Hey folks, Thanks for tuning in. These vids were originally practice tools so I could listen back to where I was hittin it and where I was missin it, but due to the covid and lack of human content, I began posting them. For the record, I don’t consider playing with a backing track a … Continue reading
Lush Life
What is there to say other than this is one of the heaviest tunes in the jazz repertoire. The closest thing (I think) we have to an original recording is one of Billy Strayhorn singing and playing it trio in a live setting. That performance leaves some questions as to what the melody really is … Continue reading
Cherry Tree in Yard Now Bench and Table
We had this monster cherry tree in our yard. It had been there 70 or 80 Years. Eventually part of it fell in our neighbor’s yard so we had to take it down. We had to build a special dolly to carry the logs which weighed about 700 pounds apiece Here we go….. Off to … Continue reading
More Sax Mouthpiece Geek Talk Part II
Here’s a recording of the same tune with the Selmer Short Barrel I wrote about in the previous post. It was a C* originally and opened up to a E or and F by a mouthpiece dude here in the Northwest named Bob Carpenter. I can’t remember what the tip opening is. This mouthpiece has … Continue reading
GEEK ALERT: Sax Mouthpiece Talk
Greetings folks, As you may/may not know, I played alto for decades and reached a point about five years ago at which I started to hate everything I played on that instrument. (all my recordings are on alto.) So I switched to tenor and defaulted to the mouthpiece I had on hand at the time, … Continue reading
The Imperfect “Democracy”
For you folks that are tuning in from Canada, Europe, and beyond, let me just say YES, I knew the United States was messed up, but not just how messed up until the unthinkable happened four years ago. Months after the nightmare has ended, I still give thanks every day that the democracy, imperfect as … Continue reading