Introduction

Hello saxophone.org members, 

My name is Adam. I am currently a graduate student who is completing a Masters degree through the Department of Sociology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. While I am not a music major, I have been playing saxophone for 16 years and I spend a great deal of time practising and playing in bands. 

I have a variety of tenor, alto, and baritone saxophones, but I have a special place in my heart for the larger saxophones. I find that the tenor and baritone saxophones sound much better when trying to play a "big boss tenor" or "big boss bari" sound, something which doesn't seem to fit nearly as well with the more "airy" and more melodic alto saxophone. I still quite enjoy playing my alto saxophone, but it just isn't the same as my tenor or baritone saxophones. 

While I have had experience playing in big bands, small jazz groups, saxophone quartets, and concert bands, I have a very strong preference for smaller jazz groups where there is more space for extensive improvising and less focus on written music. I still make special effort to ensure that I am reading at least some music every time that I practise, though, to ensure that I don't lose the music reading skills that I spent so much time earlier in my musical career learning. 

My favourite saxophonists include the following: 

Tenor saxophone: John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, and Ben Webster

Baritone saxophone: Pepper Adams, Gerry Mulligan, and Harry Carney

Alto saxophone: Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Parker, and Sonny Stitt

Soprano saxophone: John Coltrane and Sidney Bechet

I very much look forward to participating in this forum and seeing what others have to say about the saxophone and jazz. 

Take care, 
Adam 

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