Vandoren clinic with Jean Paul Gauvin
November 9, 2011
Wednesday November 9, Vandoren Paris will be organizing a promotional presentation in Amsterdam. During this presentation you will have the opportunity to try, test and compare reeds and mouthpieces from the Vandoren collections for clarinet and saxophone.
You will also have the opportunity to meet the man behind this products for personal advice - Jean Paul Gauvin. A unique opportunity! Vandoren will be represented by Jean Paul and the local Vandoren Benelux representative.
James Carter clinic at Amsterdam Winds
November 2, 2011
James Carter, endorser of P.Mauriat Saxofoons, will be presenting a masterclass in Amsterdam Winds on Wednesday November 2 from 4 - 7pm.
During the masterclass James will play and talk about his music, setup and saxophones.
James will be accompanied by Clemens van der Feen on bass and Flin van Hemmen on drums.
Miguel Zenon tries the AW Free Wind altosax
September 2, 2011
Yesterday Miguel Zenon came over to try and test the prototype of the Amsterdam Free Wind alto saxophone. Through his input I was able to even further improve the instrument. Miguel really liked the horn and asked if he could play it during his gig in the Bimhuis with Jeff Ballard and Lionel Loueke. The concert was great and Miguel sounded complete natural and free on the Free Wind alto. I am really honored that Miguel directly felt so comfortable on the instrument that he took the risk to play this difficult trio gig on another saxophone than his own.
After having worked on the instrument for years I now consider it as ready and finished, although the development will not stop. I am really proud that Paul van der Feen has been playing on it for months now and prefers it over his 3 Mark VI altos. The sax got to the point where it is now also because of the continuous input from Candy Dulfer and Paul van der Feen and because of the feedback I got from other great players such as Chris Potter, Dick Oatts, Rosario Giuliani, Benjamin Herman and others.
The website for the instrument with more information will be online soon, the instrument can then be ordered, made for and customized to the wishes of the individual player.
Openingparty with the Barnicle Bill trio and DJ Maestro
March 12, 2011
We welcome you on the openingparty on March 12. On 4pm you are welcome to come and have a drink in our new shop at the Nicolaas Beetsstraat 114 in Amsterdam. On 4.30 we will move to the LAB111 restaurant in the PAL building across the street from our shop, where you can have a drink and listen to the Barnicle Bill Trio with Miguel Martinez on the Amsterdam Free Wind alto saxophone.
From 7pm on you can have an affordable meal at the Chapel in the PAL building across the street from our shop and listen to DJ Maestro who will perform with special Amsterdam Wind customers on saxophone... We look forward to seeing you on the 12th!
Amsterdam Winds has moved
Bigger, nicer shop, easier to reach
February 15, 2011
After many good years at our current location we deciced to move to a bigger place in the nice area around the Vondelpark, which also offers more parkingspace. From February 15th you can reach us at our new location - the Nicolaas Beetsstraat 114 in Amsterdam.
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.
