Vandoren clinic with Jean-Paul Gauvin
April 15, 2010
Together with Vandoren, Amsterdam Winds offered their customers the exclusive opportunity to get personal advice about their mouthpiece/reed setup from Vandoren's main mouthpiece designer Jean-Paul Gauvin. Gauvin designed mouthpieces for many great jazz musicians, such as Gerry Mulligan and Lee Konitz and he is responsible for the design of Vandoren's mouthpieces. During this clinic Jean-Paul spoke about how to choose the right reed and mouthpiece, which factors improve the response of a reed, the importance of reed/mouthpiece combinations, the importance of the ligature and the relation between the player's embouchure and the reed/mouthpiece setup. He also presented the new Vandoren B40 and M30 clarinet mouthpieces that work on both French and German clarinets.
Altus-flute-day at Amsterdam Winds
Februari 25, 2010
Amsterdam Winds organised a special Altus flute day where customers could try out different Altus flute models. The Austrian professional flutist Petra Music gave a presentation on the philosophy behind Altus flutes. Petra Music also gave a workshop with information about intonation and colouring of sound to people trying out the different Altus models.
Amsterdam Winds in Ethiopia
December 21-30, 2009
Together with the band The Ex, Ab Baars (clarinet & saxophone), Ken Vandermark (saxophones & clarinet) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) who performed and gave workshops, I went to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia to repair saxophones.
There is a great music scene in Addis (for Ethiopian jazz check out http://ethiopiques.info) but in the whole of Ethiopia there is only one saxophone repairman!
I went over there to repair saxophones & clarinets and worked with and trained the Ethiopian repairman and brought him tools and materials (sponsored by a.o. the Bimhuis, Selmer Paris & JT Music/Vandoren).
We had a great time, saw amazing players and loved the Ethiopian spirit!
Mastercass with Branford Marsalis
November 18, 2009
Amsterdam Winds organized a masterclass with one of the greatest saxophone players of our time, Branford Marsalis. World-renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis, born in 1960, has always been a man of numerous musical interests, from jazz, blues and funk to such classical music projects as his Fall 2008 tour with Marsalis Brasilianos. The three-time Grammy winner has continued to exercise and expand his skills as an instrumentalist, a composer, and the head of Marsalis Music, the label he founded in 2002 that has allowed him to produce both his own projects and those of the jazz world's most promising new and established artists.