Solo @ Home

The past Thanksgiving week afforded me some much-needed and much-appreciated down time, which for me translates to write and practice! (and have some extra fun too)
Mostly putting in time on arranging music for my new octet and practicing clarinet, I sat down yesterday for a little quality time with my alto sax. I have been mostly working on phrasing, melodic construction, note-by-note improvising, and other such nebulous musical skills on my alto as of late, and that usually means practicing playing a tune with all those things in mind. As it's easy to get stuck inside one's own head dealing with non-specific concepts (or, let's face it, go completely out of your head), I thought I'd record myself for a better outlook.

Below you can hear some solo renditions of the great Benny Golson's classic tunes, Stablemates and Whisper Not. I hit record, sat down, and went for it two times with each tune; these are the "second time through". Comments of any kind are encouraged and appreciated, from "It sucks" to "You dropped a beat on the third bar of the bridge on the third chorus" (made that up just now, but doesn't mean it didn't happen). Look for more of these soon and periodically, if you like.

ZOOM by Michael Mull