Author: JazzBariSax Curator, Andrew Hadro

Jazz is a disproportionately male genre, at least in the US and I suspect most places. As such, it is unfortunately not shocking, but disappointing, to learn that the ‘scene’ or industry is rife with sexism against women.

Sometimes its struggling with the absurd assumption that women can’t play as well, and sometimes its just dealing with everyday stupid and inappropriate behavior from teachers, colleagues, promoters, or anyone else – I’m sure many other scenarios that I can’t even imagine.

I would very much like to present Lauren Sevian‘s recent story about her own experiences:
Sexism in Jazz, From the Conservatory to the Club: One Saxophonist Shares Her Story

Playing and promoting jazz, improvised music, and even just acoustic music is already an uphill battle. The negativity from sexism doesn’t help anyone and can be incredibly damaging. Lauren’s story is just one of many, and honestly by far probably not the worst out there, hopefully with the recent attention to this issue things will change for the better.

Baritone saxophonist, Larry Dickson, has released another very fine album in his series that are seasonally related. (Check out the last couple).

This next release, “Donora Autumn” is full of excellent original compositions, with a few familiar songs included as well. As always, the playing is tasteful and arrangements swinging. This time with If you get a chance I’d highly recommend adding this to your listening collection. I’ll be patiently awaiting the fourth season.

You can read a comprehensive review over at AllAboutJazz.com

Joe Temperley passed away but thanks to some wonderful videos from Lincoln Center’s Jazz Academy we can continue to learn from Mr. Temperley. Check out the 3 videos where he discusses his warm up exercises and sound production.

Josh Sinton is a long standing member of the creative music scene focused in New York City. He is one of the few musicians in that arena to dedicate himself to the baritone saxophone, and we are all the richer for it.

Sinton is part of a new band called “muscianer” and they have a debut album “Slow Learner.” I recently saw Josh and he was kind enough to give me a copy to listen to. I think anyone who appreciates modern music and is looking to hear baritone saxophone in a new and different way will really appreciate it. The video below will give a quick sample of what can be found on the album. The album officially arrives September 25th, you can pre-order it here.

musicianer is also embarking on a tour for the release. Click here if you’d like to see a list of shows.

Andrew Gutauskas, a very adept player in the NYC jazz scene has released his first album as a leader. It’s titled “Look Up!”, a reference and homage to his late mentor, Mr. Joe Temperley.

You can check out a few of the tunes, including the the title track below. A beautiful original tune that seems to pay respects to Temperley, and one of his most popularly performed Ellington songs “Single Petal of a Rose”.

The whole band is comprised of fantastic New York musicians, all of whom are quickly becoming the core of the new generation of great musicians.

Those interested in getting the album will find it on iTunes.

Andy has created a beautiful original work that honors a mentor. A tricky line to walk, but I think he has done it beautifully.

We have finally gotten around to updating the site’s layout. It should work much butter on mobile and smaller devices. Apologies for any oddities you see during the transition as we are still fleshing everything out. If you see anything strange or have any suggestions, please head on over to the contact page and let us know!

We are probably well overdue for a Hamiet Bluiett solo transcription.

Thanks to  Masahiro Totsuka there is a new transcription in the transcription repository of Hamiet’s from the album “Join Us” Check it out!