Vandoren Saxophone Harness System
Whether you’re marching down the 50-yard line or slogging through multiple sets of standards at a corporate reception, Vandoren’s new Saxophone Harness System will give your back a break. As Vandoren says, the ergonomic device was designed with input from both physiotherapists and musicians, and it “moves as you move and adjusts automatically whether you are sitting or standing.” With soft shoulder straps and a support belt to lessen or even eliminate any feeling of weight from your horn, the harness comes in one universal size.
vandoren.com
Boost Juice
Nope, not an energy drink: Rovner Products’ Boost Juice Pad Elixir is a liquid compound that, as the company puts it, “interacts with the [sax] pad material on a molecular level, lubricating and preserving it.” Sold as part of Rovner’s Boost Juice Saxophone and Pad Performance Enhancement Kit, this sax fish-oil of sorts promises to improve not only playability-say goodbye to sticky keys-but tone and projection as well.
rovnerproducts.com
Locoparasaxo
As the kids say, don’t trip-especially over your priceless vintage Selmer. Locoparasaxo is a Dutch brand manufacturing wall-mounted instrument stands that can be used to display horns and keep them out of the way of fellow musicians and studio engineers, and safe at home from children and pets. Most noted for its saxophone stands, Locoparasaxo also offers stands for trumpet, clarinet and French horn. Among the artists using the products are Mindi Abair and Candy and Hans Dulfer.
locoparasaxo.com
New Aebersolds
Because you can never truly know enough about jazz and improvisation, you can’t really ever have too many Jamey Aebersold books. The jazz-ed giant’s recent batch of resources includes Volume 133 of its never-ending Play-A-Long series, titled Down by the Riverside, and The Wynton Kelly Collection. The former is a book/CD kit featuring charts for trad-jazz essentials like the title song, “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.” The latter features Michael Müller’s transcriptions of Kelly’s “original improvisations over chord changes similar to” a slew of classic tunes.
jazzbooks.com
Godin Montreal Premiere Guitars
In time to celebrate its 40th anniversary, Godin Guitars recently unveiled two variations on its new thinline, semi-hollowbody Montreal Premiere electric-one with a Graph Tech ResoMax bridge system and one with a Bigsby tremolo setup. Made in Canada, the versatile Premiere features a Canadian wild cherry top, back and sides with a spruce “breathe-through” carved core that, Godin says, “promotes free airflow through the interior center block, making the Montreal Premiere a resonant, vibrant guitar.” The guitar’s electronics include two Godin custom humbuckers, a three-way toggle switch and one volume and one tone knob. Fans of Gibson instruments will take to the 24 3/4-inch scale length, mahogany set-neck, rosewood fingerboard and vintage-style tuners.
godinguitars.com
Phaeton FX-1100 Trumpet
Phaeton’s FX-1100 trumpet offers brass players a remarkably precise performance experience: The horn ships with three interchangeable vertical bracing sets, in bronze, annealed brass and stainless steel. Other features include a solid-brass, one-piece mouthpiece receiver, reversed tuning slides and a reversed, large-bore-tapered leadpipe, and rifle-drilled openings to lessen weight and increase response.
phaetontrumpet.com
