https://www.selmer.fr/en-int/p.....6088024233

I started doing that, and I noticed my evenness and time are nowhere near where I need them to be. Of course, I'm getting frustrated so I can't even play a scale with accuracy today, apparently. So, back to basics I went: subdivisions and time keeping. I remember Adam Neely citing a study that shows that entraining rhythm in larg(er) movements works well on a neurological level, so I hope this will help. 

Right now I have nothing but bad thoughts about my time, articulation, and phrasing. Today I will subdivide, subdivide, subdivide and trust the process.

MikeJolk said
Nice. A good solo meets the needs of the musical moment, as this one does. 
  

Thank you, Mike! It was a blast up on that stage. 

They asked me to add some sax to "Everlast," the final song of the night at the Black Cat, playing my 1970 Low Bb Mark VI bari. Yeah, I know, it ain't jazz, but it was fun, and the audience went nuts. 

A friend of mine took the video below from the crowd. I walked on stage about a minute into the song, and he didn't start recording until I started playing. 🙂 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbQiFL9Bk1w/

They've got a gig at Union Pool in Williamsburg Brooklyn on Thursday, and I'm heading there with them. Planning to stay in NYC until Sunday, and meet up with Bob Franceschini, 1/3rd of the Inside:Outside Bobs while I'm there. He's got a couple of gigs, and I'm also hoping to find a couple of jam sessions as well. 

Also the neck was not quite the right shape and didn’t quite fit the neck collar properly. I just simply could not keep it in tune either. So when I talked to Jack at BSS about his neck, he assured me that it would solve the intonation and fit problems that I had with a Yamaha and would give me that same free blowing open experience. So I went for it. I bought the silver heritage neck about five or six years ago I think. I still quite like it. But it is absolutely different from the Selmer neck. When I go back to the Selmer, I still like the sound and the projection and the power, but I find it very restrictive in terms of finding a narrow sweet spot for the sound. The heritage neck has a huge wide open sound that is not so finicky about airflow. If I have to be perfectly honest, though, sometimes the spread sound doesn’t appeal to me as much. However, in terms of intonation, low notes and Altissimo, it all opened up for me quite a bit. I still play on the Heritage neck on my Mark VI. I actually find it quite hard to go back.

Having said all of that, I have recently purchased a second tenor that is a unique brand that nobody in this forum would’ve ever come across. It’s called Minster (offered in Thailand, made on spec in Taiwan) The horn is quite a lot of fun to play, but it is very heavy with highly molded keys - a far departure from the Selmer. Yet it gets the power and projection that I like without a highly restrictive neck. So I’ve been having fun with that lately

*The manufacturer of Pepsi had an ad campaign where people were asked to blind-taste their product next to coca-cola. Pepsi is the sweeter beverage so people often preferred it based on an initial sip, but it’s of course disgusting in the long run. 

This is a big factor in making these decisions such a rabbit-hole. Initial impressions are misleading. 

I was at the Boston Sax Shop last year trying out tenors (an experience I recommend — they had a saxophone sommelier bringing me horns in a comfortable room like I was some kind of big shot, even though I made it clear I was unlikely to buy a horn). I had my alto with me and gave their heritage neck a quick try and it felt terrific — really surprisingly open and free-blowing — but I didn’t have time to give it serious consideration. I didn’t buy it because I’m pretty sure any limitations on my playing are not the fault of the original neck on my Mark VI.

Mike

Rob Z said
More oddness and oddity, from the 15 bebop lines over a II-V in 7/4 course:

  

Yeah!

• Time Feel Case-Study: Using Straight 8th Notes to Make Your Lines Swing Hard

I just... There's an aesthetic element that I enjoy, and I have a hard time swapping out the original neck for an aftermarket neck. I don't know. I did give it a bunch of different tries. I think I even made a video a long time ago with Ben Wendel about this, trying different necks. I had the same experience as you, and I went back to the main neck. I've seen videos of Joshua Redmond featured on Friso Hedinga's Instagram and such playing Friso's neck, but then Josh was in the comments saying, "Just to be clear, I'm on the original neck."

So again, this is not necessarily helpful in that it's neither an endorsement for, nor a definitive warning against aftermarket necks. Some people swear by those Kim Bock necks, etc., and I did get one from Friso that I think is cool. For whatever reason, I just don't have any interest in playing it. I am playing the VI neck on the VI and the SBA neck on the SBA.