PGSaxLab

Getting Humbled by Michael Brecker Part 1 🎷

🎷🔥 Tried playing along with Michael Brecker. The word "along" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting in that sentence.

This is what it sounds like when someone has completely internalized harmony at the deepest possible level. The intervallic leaps, the rhythmic complexity, the way every single note choice is deliberate and unexpected at the same time — Brecker wasn't playing saxophone. He was speaking a language most of us are still learning the alphabet of.

Transcribing this solo is one thing. Playing it back and realizing how far the gap still is? That's the humbling part. 😤

But that IS the process. You find the players who make you feel small, you steal their language note by note, and you let it rewire how your ear hears everything.

I'm running a free live webinar on June 24th where I break down the exact practice philosophy I teach my students

🗓️ June 24th — 11:30 AM Pacific / 2:30 PM Eastern

👉 Link in bio to register
or grab it here: https://smpl.is/aksfn


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I Made 5 Free Jazz Saxophone Etudes For You 🎵 🎷

5 original etudes over jazz standards you already know — with backing tracks at incremental speeds, play-alongs, and stems. All free.

🎷 Grab your 5 free etudes here 👇
https://smpl.is/akpvd

🎷 Or Get your 5 free etudes my bio 🔗

Yeah, I'm gonna send you emails after. That's how this works. But honestly? The stuff I send is better than most of what's out there. Stick around and see for yourself.

Trying to sound like my heroes over Moment's Notice... still not there yet. 🎷

Moment's Notice is one of those tunes that humbles you every single time. I've been woodshedding this one for a while and I still hear all the things I want to fix. But that's the process — you put in the work, you record yourself, you cringe a little, and you go back to the shed. We're all chasing something on this instrument. 🎷

🎷 Free saxophone webinar and free sax resources in bio 🔗

Then why would he say it? 😂🎷

No tenor 2s were harmed in the making of this meme. It’s just jokes, people — try not to take it too hard.

Free webinar + SaxLab free resources in bio 🔗

Prime Sonny Rollins was absolutely built different 🎷

I tried to learn this lick note for note. I can only get it to 75% of the speed he actually played it at. SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT. And it still sounds fast.

This man was doing things in the 1950s and 60s that players today still can't touch. The rhythmic vocabulary, the motivic development, the sheer confidence in every phrase — there's a reason they called him the Saxophone Colossus.

Transcribing players like this is humbling. But that's the whole point. You find the guys who make you feel small, you steal their ideas note by note, and you let it rebuild how you hear music.

That's how your ear grows. Not from PDFs. Not from scale charts. From chasing the greats and failing forward.

If you want to understand why your ear is the ceiling of your potential and how to actually start closing the gap between what you hear and what you can play:

👉 https://smpl.is/akg0y

You can also grab it in the bio 🔗

Honoring the Great Sonny Rollins 🎷🙏

The Saxophone Colossus. Gone at 95, but his sound will live forever.
I sat down and transcribed the opening phrases of Sonny's solo on "Strode Rode" — one of the most iconic tracks from one of the most iconic albums in the history of this instrument. Saxophone Colossus (1956).

If you know, you know.
There's nobody who played with more rhythmic authority, more melodic confidence, more sheer PERSONALITY on the tenor than Sonny Rollins. Every note meant something. Every phrase had a beginning, a middle, and an end. He didn't just play the saxophone — he SPOKE through it.

Rest easy, Sonny. We're all standing on your shoulders.

🎷 If you're a saxophone player who wants to take your playing to the next level check out my free resources and my free webinar. Link's in bio.

Top 3 Most Underrated Saxophone Players Right Now 🎷🔥

Most people have never heard of these three saxophone players — and that's a crime. From Lady Gaga's jazz band to a car parts factory in Italy, these guys are some of the most dangerous players alive and not enough people are talking about them.

Who do YOU think is the most underrated sax player right now? Drop it in the comments 👇

🎷 Want to build that kind of musicianship — playing from your ear, not from a page? Register for my free live webinar 👉 https://smpl.is/ak5tc or register with my linktree in the bio 🔗

One Chorus of the Blues with Sonny Stitt 🎷💨

I sat down and played a chorus of the blues along with Sonny Stitt. No transcription books, just ears, horn, and one of the greatest to ever do it.

This is what tonal memory looks like in action. You hear it, you internalize it, you play it. No PDFs. No tab. No cheat sheet.

The question is — can YOU do this with your favorite players? If not, that's not a talent problem. That's a process problem. And it's fixable.

🎓 I break down exactly how to build this skill in a free webinar — link in the bio 🔗

Or grab it here. 👉 https://smpl.is/ak4mn

🎷🔥

The 3 Best Female Jazz Saxophonists Alive Right Now 🎷

Top 3 female jazz saxophonists right now — and trust me, these women are absolute killers. Every one of them can go toe-to-toe with any male saxophonist on the planet.

3.) Emma Rawicz — 24 years old, headlining Ronnie Scott's, leading her own jazz orchestra, BBC New Generation Artist. She's just getting started.

2.) Sarah Hanahan — Juilliard trained, Mingus Big Band, DownBeat Number 1 Rising Star on alto. Five-star debut album. Under 30.

1.) Melissa Aldana — First woman to win the Thelonious Monk Competition. Grammy nominated. One of the best tenor players alive, period.

And before you say it — Candy Dulfer and Grace Kelly are incredible, but that's a different list. This is straight-ahead jazz improvisation at the highest level.

Want to learn how to actually play like these players? I break down the whole process in my free webinar, check out the bio 🔗

If You're Married to Your Lead Sheet, WATCH THIS 🎷

🎷 If you've been playing a tune for months and you STILL need the chart in front of you, THAT'S A PROBLEM!

The chart is a great step one, but it shouldn't be your final destination. How fast you get off it is where real internalizing starts.

I break down how to develop your own practice process specific to your needs in a free webinar I do, link in bio 🔗

🔗 https://smpl.is/ak1oo