new music!

I just posted 10 new songs on the music page!

Anke's Martin Soprano

Rocco complete!

Rocco's tenor

Recent works...

Here are some recent works. Enjoy!

Deja vu

Man, how'd we ever get back here again...

http://web.archive.org/web/20020930015807/http://www.saxophone.org/

Brace yourselves, because we're at the tipping point.

http://deconsumption.typepad.com/
http://www.peakoil.com
http://lifeaftertheoilcrash.net

Things and more things

Having not updated this thing in ages, I figured it was time to show some of the projects I am working on.

My friend Mike in France wants me to create a work of art that speaks in the Celtic tradition, but that also incorporates other peaceful and even meditative elements. Having had a lot of turmoil in my life since the new year began, the work on his tenor has served as a kind of heling meditation in itself. The bell is nearly completed, and then it's on to the rest of the body:







Another project was re-engraving Christian's Balanced Action tenor to factory original. This was a euro-engraved sax, so the pattern is very different.



There are other projects going on right now, but pictures will have to wait until later this weekend.

New Jason DuMars solo album release -- Songs From Oil City

I am really happy to announce that I have completed this year's recording project and hope you'll take a listen to some of the music. I know some of you have dial-up Internet connections and won't be able to download the files, so let me know if you want me to send you an audio CD.

Here's the link to it: http://www.dumarsengraving.com/sfoc

This album was mostly recorded during the first half of the year in our tiny little apartment, and was particularly challenging since I played all of the parts (over 15 different instruments) myself and did the recording part too. The project started out as a series of very loose, rhythmically-ambiguous layered improvisations, but transformed into something more thematically coherent as I progressed. The order of the songs is basically chronological and shows a sort of de-evolution into simplicity -- really culminating in the last 6 minutes of the last song. I realized at the end of doing this that it was a very personal reflection on my own struggles with living in the waning years of the Age of Oil. By the way, the real Oil City was located where the Hoh River meets the mighty Pacific Ocean on the Olympic Peninsula, and indeed there is nothing left of it other than memories and driftwood.

Please share your thoughts with me about the music, life, or anything else. This is an important time to come together, and this is my way of sharing my deepest self with you.

With love and peace,

Jason

The unexplored country

In just about every realm of human existence, there are three primary ways of approaching the future -- innovation, maintenance, and destruction. This plays out in innumerable expressions, but the area that has my attention right now is in music, and to a lesser degree, art. Maintaining in jazz means a mastery of traditional harmony, structure, repetoire and technique. When I say maintaining, I do not in any way imply that it is a lesser state than being an innovator. Jazz maintenance is a high art, and requires a level of detail and commitment that is absolutely staggering! It's akin to the level of musicianship required to be first violin in a major symphony. In these positions, the vocabulary is well established, as are the expectations of the audience and your peers. Jazz has an immense repertoire that is expanded upon literally every day -- not only with original tunes, but highly original adaptations of existing songs. Added to this are the unique inflections and accents of exceptional performers. Individual solos over chord changes may sound very unique to the person playing them, but there is always a baseline expectation of what will happen within the constructs of the tune. I repeat that this requires a staggering level of commitment and persistence. Even the notion of practice -- learning new things included -- reinforces the notion that you must work on maintaining technique or you will assuredly lose it. Another hallmark of jazz maintenance is that it can be documented, repeated and communicated to others through tutelage. At the highest levels, the instruction requires an immense foundation of knowledge, much like a science, where you must understand all of the underlying laws, theorems and hypotheses. Jazz at its highest level of maintenance is dizzying.

As I have thought about this, I came to realize that the ultimate demarcation of an art in maintenance mode is its appellation by an audience -- either the music-consuming public, or the artists themselves. Quantifying an art form means putting it in a box that can be maintained. On the fringe of this box is always a group of individuals pushing it out further, exploring what possibilities still remain. But eventually, this meets a point of infinitely diminishing returns. Almost all sciences have met this point. As quantum physics delved further and further into the atomic world, smaller and smaller particles emerged, and eventually the only thing left was an unintelligible mystery that seemed to fly in the face of the macro-realities of the physical world. There are still innumerable major mysteries, but most quantum research is focused on elaborating upon earlier theories and postulates. Eventually, scientists hope to find the Unified Theory that ties the macro and micro worlds of physics together. Other sciences have met even more solid boundaries. For example, geographical exploration has reached a defined terminus. With mapping and tracking satellites circling the globe, high-resolution spectrometry and a host of other technologies, there are no more continents to be discovered. We know to a very high level of certainty where all dry land on planet Earth resides. There is not really a place for explorers circumnavigating the globe in wooden sailing ships anymore. With the exception of correlative sciences such as oceanography, climatology and vulcanology, geographers have become unified maintainers of the science. Again, this maintenance requires an extreme level of expertise to comprehend. Anyone who has ever studied the erosive patterns of oxbow-forming rivers, or subtleties of continental drift knows that geology is a big subject. Jazz is a big subject. So much so that it has created hundreds of splinter disciplines just like in geography. There's bebop, big band, fusion, and funk -- all with even smaller avenues of expression . But, as one looks at the big picture, Jazz has reached a terminus. The majority of jazz players out there are elaborating on what has already been explored -- albeit at a much higher level of precision and refinement. As Dexter Gordon's character said in the clasic jazz movie 'Round Midnight "A cat came up to me one time in Brooklyn, and stared at me while I was playing, you know, the way a lot of dudes do; and then he says, I'm a jazzman too, and I play you better than you play you."

For me, I want to find the unexplored country... if it exists.

Today's work...

I finally completed Jed's tenor today, and even got a few hours of work done on Randall's PM. I took some photos of Jed's 6:



Some more photos:

The bell rim
The bell rim and neck
Full body side 1
Full body side 2

Friday, saxophonist extraordinaire Tom Pereira was in town playing at the Blue Monk with drummer Charlie Dogget, bassist Dan Schulte and my friend David Valdez, arguably the best alto player in the Northwest. I sat in on a couple of tunes and had a great time playing with such a heavy group of cats. On Saturday I went over to Dave's house and re-engraved Tom's Mark VI tenor, which had been badly buffed by a previous owner. It was a total treat to hang out with Dave and Tom talking mouthpieces, horns and history. They were jamming out to Aebersold records while I was carving away Tom's tenor. Everyone should send an e-mail to Tom and tell him to move to Portland!

More photos tomorrow... hopefully of a completed P. Mauriat tenor. Oh, and it snowed today for the first time this year!

Jed's tenor takes shape

I worked for a few hours on Jed's tenor again today, and it's just about done! It's turning out very nicely.


More pictures...
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
Picture 5
Picture 6
Picture 7
Picture 8
Picture 9

There's some really good news from Schilke that I will be announcing in January too! Apparently all 50 special anniversary models sold in 3 hours.

Lots and lots of information and so little time...

I realized after looking at my page that my blog had somehow disappeared. That goes to show you how very little time I have to work on my web pages these days. There is so much news that I am not even sure where to start. I'll just ramble along, and hopefully catch the major points.

First off, I am very excited to announce my partnership with Schilke music products which produces one of the best trumpets (some would argue THE best) in the world. In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the company, they are producing a limited edition 50th anniversary model, which I am engraving. I designed a pattern that has some consistent visual elements and subtle symbolism, but each bell is quite unique! Some are straight floral, some are slightly art deco, and some have a Celtic influence. I have completed 39 of the 50 so far, and will be trying to get #40 done tomorrow. It's been a tremendous challenge on a number of fronts. The biggest one is the narrow diameter of the tube after the first curve, and I am sad to report I've had 2 serious injuries, the most recent of which was yesterday and involved a graver landing full force into the lower part of my thumb, penetrating almost an inch. As is normally the case, the trumpet was fine, but my hand certainly wasn't. Thankfully I heal fast. The last close call was with a wide flat graver that cut a 3" gash in my wrist. That was the worst one yet, although yesterday's hurt much, much worse. Ok, enough talk about injuries!

Here's a picture of the Schilke prototype (which I still own):



Other engraving projects currently under way are Jed's Mark VI tenor:



And Randall's P. Mauriat tenor:



In other engraving news, my work is featured in the 2006 Sax On The Web saxophone calendar for the month of February! I am really excited to be part of that project, and especially knowing that there were many requests specifically for my work to be included.

For music news, there is quite a bit happening right now. In my collaboration with Darren Littlejohn, and his project, PortlandJazzJams.com I have recorded:

• a podcast featuring the first version of the Jason DuMars trio with Ross Davis on bass and Aaron Slick on drums
  
• an interview with myself and amazing alto player David Valdez discussing the philosophy of esoteric music, and doing a couple of free duets
  
• a 30 minute TV show appearance on PJJTV with my new trio featuring ex-New Orleans bassist Nobu Ozaki and drummer Tim DuRoche

If you go to the PortlandJazzJams.com website, there are other clips and even a picture gallery with images from some of the sessions I play regularly at.

I believe the trio with Tim and Nobu is going to be getting a lot of attention soon, as we sound really good together. For how few times we've performed together, we have a very strong connection. I can only imagine what we'll sound like in a few months.

There's more news I am undoubtedtly forgetting, and will be posting more pictures soon.

Jazz language

On Tuesday, August third, 1999, I called in to work sick and slept in. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, and even the opacity of the dank green curtains couldn’t keep the brightness out of my tiny apartment. When I finally woke up around noon, I realized I had the most incredible dream…

There was a circle of children from every corner of the world, sitting with rapt attention at the feet of an old African story teller. He was a towering man wearing an all-white Nigerian Babariga with shocks of course gray hair escaping from under his hat. His smile was magnetic, and his huge, strong hands motioned silently for me to come sit with the rest of the children. As I approached, I recognized his face so clearly. It was Leroy Vinegar – the man who so patiently taught me what it was to live jazz. I never knew him well, but he had touched me in a silent and permanent way, just as he had so many others. It wasn’t until a day or so later that I found out he had passed away that very morning.

In the intervening years, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this dream and what it meant. Just like the man inside it, it has left an indelible ripple in my life. And with any ripples, there must be still waters to really carry it forward. For me, that still water was broken for a long time by a deep struggle with music, career and relationships. As the waters have calmed and I have found peace, that dream came back to me, and so did its meaning, as you will soon see.

I recently had a conversation with Steve Coleman about my personal struggle with the nexus between jazz and my own musical language. His reply captured the essence of things I had known for a long time, but had never fully coalesced for me:

“If you think about any labels at all, this will restrict your creativity. For the most part the pioneers of any kind of music were not thinking in terms of labels or style names. You can think about a particular ‘form’ (say a particular kind of cycle or whatever) but I never think in terms of what are called styles, not even what people think is supposed to be my style. I don’t think in terms of styles and I don’t consider myself as having a style. Creating with no style in mind, playing without playing, composing without composing. I only concentrate on what I am trying to say (more on this below). So as far as I am concerned, there is no ‘nexus’ between the dynamic language (meaning always changing) that I am currently involved with and that of so-called ‘Jazz’, because I refuse to accept that ‘Jazz’ exists. ‘Jazz’ for me is the not-so-creative part that most people relate to when they hear some forms from the past. I don’t know if I am being clear, but I have never considered the music of people like Duke Ellington, Don Byas, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, John Coltrane, Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill – I have never considered this creative tradition ‘Jazz’. I don’t care what others call it and I don’t even pay much attention to what these people themselves (i.e. the musicians) call it. I’m just giving you my honest opinion about this. So there is no ‘nexus’ for me, I don’t need to worry about any kind of consistency as I only deal with where I am coming from, trying to be as truthful and consistent within myself as possible – in all areas of life. I think that if I can stay in that space, live with that vibration, then the other things take care of themselves.”

“ Ultimately I believe that humans are the living embodiment of creativity, we don’t need to ‘try’ to be creative, we just need to have knowledge of what we are – and the creativity naturally comes from us being in harmony with our true nature.”

“This is the simplest way I can say this.”

“In my case, my focus has always been what I am trying to say (using music as a sonic symbolic language) and how do I want to say it. When I was coming up learning how to play on the South side of Chicago the older cats were always stressing “get your own sound”, “find out what you want to say”, “what’s your story” and stuff like that. Since they all sounded pretty much unique from each other I interpreted this to mean that I needed to find my own way musically to say what I wanted to say. So then began the search, even before I could play anything even a little well. This meant that I was learning the basics of music and at the same time figuring out what I want to say and how do I want to say it using music as my language.”

“The funny thing is, I STILL feel like that is exactly where I am now! I am still very much trying to learn the BASICS of music, or I should say that now I am trying to learn the BASIS of music – now even more than before. And I am definitely still trying to work out the what, why and how in my expression of that music.”

“Jason, what really clarified things for me (and I had a long talk with Michael Brecker about this) was when I got some kind of handle on ‘what am I trying to say with my music’.”

“We often hear of people talking about ‘tell a story’ with your music, or even with a solo, but what does that mean? Well, it is much too complex to go into detail in one email (I may attempt to write a small book on this one day) but I think that it simply means the same thing as ‘telling a story’ normally would mean to a person. But what I found out is that I needed to look at what ‘telling a story’ meant in ancient times to people a long time ago. Because ‘telling a story’ then was not exactly the same thing as ‘telling a story’ is today. Back then ‘telling a story’ meant to talk about something using symbols that revealed a principle on multiple levels. Today ‘telling a story’ may mean to someone to talk about something specific, like for example a relationship you have with a woman, or something like this. So I started to look at the kinds of stories that people like Bach, Beethoven, Bartok, Parker, Coltrane, etc. were telling along with other kinds of music from Africa, Asia etc. I wanted to find out what these stories were and how were they being told musically.”

“This helped me a lot because at this point I began to focus on the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ of what I was trying to say, and the ‘how’ part kind of took care of itself. In my very early years I was focusing more on this rhythm, this melody, this harmony, this form, this phrasing and things like that. But even so I eventually found that there was a connection between when I was intuitively figuring out what and how to play and this later period when I was more into the message part of what I was trying to say.”

“Regarding compositions, I always wrote songs about something, so there was always a subject matter at hand. Ultimately there is no difference between composition and improvisation for me. I consider improvisation ‘spontaneous composition’, it is just a matter of the method of creation. Spontaneous Composition requires that you develop the ability to create things in real time, in the moment. So you need to develop skills that address these problems. But the things that I want to create spontaneous are no different than the things I want to create with preconceived compositions. Many of my so-called preconceived compositions start off as spontaneous compositions, and I just notate them later. What I work on a lot is the kinds of sonic forms (rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, tonal, shapes, etc.) that will form the symbols in my symbolic library, and this is the basis of my musical language. Then I work on internalizing these forms so that I can create them and others similar to them spontaneously by feeling. But I am not just choosing forms randomly or just according to what I want to hear or like. The forms are a big part of what I want to say, as they themselves are the sonic symbols that carry these multiple level messages.”

Leroy’s final gift to me was to see him not with a bass in his hands, but children at his feet, learning and growing as he nurtured something much deeper than musical appreciation inside of them. He had a story to tell, just as I do, and just as you do. One of the most difficult aspects of accepting this is to realize that our own stories have just as much to offer to the world as anyone else’s. And, in many ways, our stories are the embodiment of the life we lead, our hopes, our fears, experiences and desires. Ultimately what comes out of our instruments is a map of our souls, if we let it be. The trap we fall into as “jazz musicians” is to try and tell someone else’s story, as though it was our own. In the world, we think of this as a fable or legend. You can repeat a very intriguing story, but you can never tell it with the same passion and depth as a story you have lived. Musically, the same is true. We can play a phrase or passage exactly like any one of the greats, but it is not ours. Even songs or chord changes belong to someone else. This is the essence of why I have chosen to explore different worlds of improvisation and spontaneous composition instead of focusing on learning standards, or transcribing other peoples’ solos. I understand on a deep level why that path of learning is so often taken. It is in many ways the difference between reading about something academically and doing it yourself. Both approaches yield a different set of outcomes in relation to how we perceive the world, and how we ourselves are perceived. Music to me is very far from academic or safe. When improvising, I like to live in the moment, to take chances, to do things I have never done before. Every time we play our instruments we have this opportunity. When music becomes a purely academic pursuit, the language becomes the end instead of the means to an end. Language is merely a description of something and not the thing itself. And, this distinction becomes critical for any musician who wants to tell their story. It’s not about the words or notes. Sometimes it is a scream. Sometimes it is silence. When it is real, you know it, and so does the audience, because they feel it, see it, believe it.



What is your story?

Long-awaited update!

I just completed a slew of new projects as well as getting some personal things done. Recent engravings include a very nice Conn Connqueror Tenor:

A special re-engraving job on a Mark VI tenor:

and the creation of a patriotic themed Conn New Wonder tenor (nicknamed 'Lady Liberty') for my old friend Denny:

As you might have noticed, I switched to the blog format so I have a little more flexibility for updating, as well as having a place to put other musical and personal news. Up next... 2 biggie projects for Randall, and a Mark VI re-engrave for Sarge at World Wide Sax.

Past entries

Past Project Log:

Tuesday 4/10/2005: Okay, I really need to update a lot more often! There was a bit of a lull in the work, but it has given me time to work on a very special project for my new friend Claude in Hawaii. The intent is to create an heirloom to pass on through his family. As such, he wanted to have images from the island on the horn, as well as very elegant, elaborate floral work. The challenge was how to incorporate the existing engraving, which leaves very much to be desired. I thought about it a lot and decided sometimes the best thing is not to try and hide something weak, but bring it out and make it come alive. I did a very special technique engraving around and through the existing work, then filling it in. I then added very detailed work the winds around and behind the stock pattern. I did the fill on all the additional work in straight cuts. So far I have engraved the Hawaiian state bird, the Nene, a waterfall scene and very intricate details on the bow brace. It's a work in progress, but here are some photos:


The Nene



The Bow


The side with the waterfall on it

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Friday 4/1/2005: It's been so busy lately that I never seem to get time to update my page. I've been playing quite a bit with the Noah Teicher Quartet, as well other gigs here and there. I'm going to post a few collages here of recent works -- most notably Kenny's Reference 54 alto which drew some inspiration from Jim's. I also did an expedited job for BAC Horn Doctor on a trumpet that will be a gift from some dedicated music students to their director. I engraved a copy of his signature as well as "Custom Special" underneath it. It also has JCCC 2005 under the logo in commemoration. I just completed an SML tenor for World Wide Sax, and of course Kenny's R&C soprano what seems like ages ago. I also engraved a special King 3-B SilverSonic trombone and finally my own alto in a Celtic pattern, which I believe turned out even better than the Conn tenor I did. I still have one Conn tenor to engrave, and that one may turn out to be the most elaborate yet. We'll see! I'll be gone the next 5 days on a much-needed vacation. Up next is going to be a very special heirloom tenor project.


Kenny's Reference 54 Alto


My Yamaha alto

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Wednesday 3/2/2005: Fresh off the bench is Scott's Reference 54 tenor, which I did in an Art Nouveau style, with a central portrait surrounded by floral work. I used an elongated lilly attern throughout and added some extra flowers throughout. This tenor had two necks so I did them each with their own personality. Coming in tomorrow is Kenny's R&C soprano.



Sunday 2/20/2005: I just completed the 2 trumpets from BAC Horn Doctor, 1 is an Olds Recording model and the other is a Conn Victor. The Olds was incredibly tricky to re-engrave, as it is done in some of the finest straight cut work found on any trumpet. I also put the finishing touches on Jim's amazing Reference alto. It deserves a picture here on the front page!



I'll be adding it to the favorites page this week. I also took some pictures of my Buescher Artist Model C tenor -- without a doubt the nicest engraving I've ever seen on a horn! It's even got the original engraved, gold plated ligature and mouthpiece cap! The body is quadruple gold plated,
and the engraving is all filled in silver. It is absolutely stunning!

Tuesday 2/15/2005: I've been too busy to update of late! I have almost completed Jim's Reference alto and will be posting updated pictures in the next day or so once it is complete. I also managed to finish David's soprano, which is one of the nicest vintage sopranos I've ever had the pleasure of seeing! I'll be engraving the another Conn tenor and putting it on eBay in the next few weeks. Up and coming work -- Scott's Reference 54, which may wind up being the nicest themed horn I have ever done. It's going to be done completely in Art Nouveau style. I've also got 3 trumpets coming in for re-engraving from the BAC Horn Doctor. Look for lots of pictures soon. I just haven't had the gumption to spend a lot of time in front of the PC, especially since I have been playing a lot of gigs and working on my new solo CD project.

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Thursday 2/3/2005: Lots of projects in now, and more updates on the way... up next, Jim's showpiece Reference alto, a little more work on Tom's trumpet, and a nickel plated soprano for my old friend David. The Celtic Conn is on eBay right now, although I am not the one selling it.

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Monday 1/17/2005: Quick update... I just finished Jim's penguin neck. Here are some photos: Left View Right View The Penguin.

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Saturday 1/15/2005: The weather is finally getting Winter-like, so it's a good time to stay inside and cozy up next to my engraving tools. I am done with the body of the "Celtic Conn" and once I am done with the neck, it is up for grabs, so let me know right away if you are interested in it before I list it on eBay! Here she is:

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Sunday 1/9/2005: Not much of an update, but I figured I'd share pictures of my current personal project, the first of the two Conn Wonder tenors. I've never engraved so much in one sitting before, but once you start working on Celtic knotwork, it becomes almost hypnotic. The trick is to always make sure lines go over and under, and never under-under or vice versa. I
did this completely spontaneously, with no planning or guides. I just followed the knot wherever it took me. This one is going to be stunning when it is done. I am going to do the body, neck,
rim, and probably keys too. While I have it apart, I may put a new set of Conn Reso Pads in it. It's had a little past damage, but has a great smokey sound and deserves to be played. Hopefully all of this work will give it a new lease on life. One thing is for sure, there's no other horn even remotely like it out there!

On a personal note, it's really been a good new year so far. I'm doing a lot of playing, and sticking to my resolution to play my sax every single day of the year. I am going to be recording at least
one solo CD this year, as well as recording with the Jazz Express Big Band, which I am the artistic and musical director for. Other plans are to get the Jason DuMars model saxophone rolled out, maybe find some more project horns, and whatever else comes my way. Here's to 2005!

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Saturday 1/1/2005: A slight diversion for the New Year... Today is my birthday, and I had a couple of surprises. Yesterday, I went to Beaverton Music to buy some music books, and saw a lovely King Super 20 Silversonic alto on the wall. I didn't intend to even try it out, but the guy behind the counter convinced me to. Boy am I glad I did! I fell in love with it almost immediately, and oddly enough found the Link Tone Edge randomly selected to try on it a perfect match! I went home and mulled it over and went back to buy it. I played it for several hours yesterday and today, and feel like an alto player again! Anyway, I decided I wanted to spruce it up, and well, went a little crazy on it. I did the bell keys like the earlier versions, engraved a very nude
woman watching a butterfly on the unengraved side of the bell, engraved the bow, the bow brace, the body and even the pants guard! For now I'll leave the neck alone. The other surprise was receiving the new prototype for the Jinyin professional model alto. I don't have any
pictures, but I can tell you it is an absolutely awesome design with some cool features like rolled tone holes and a C# speaker key. There are some changes I need to suggest to them, but it's definitely a solid start. It will be interesting to see how the Jason DuMars model comes out. I should be receiving a prototype in the next month or so. I'll post pics on that one too.

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Thursday 12/30/2004: I've wrapped up my vacation for the most part, having just completed Bill's Mendez. You can see an overview here. Bill gave me some ideas to mull over, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the Mission San Juan Capistrano. I decided to do the body in a traditional floral like you might see on an original Mendez, but did the pictoral work in a Southwestern theme including a Native American lizard and Thunderbird design. The difference on this trumpet is the extremely small and detailed patterns that run along the body tubes and valves. I also did a very quick job in the Selmer style on the King alto bell. I may take pictures of that one in the near future. I spent a lot of time the past few days getting my Conn C Melody tenor functioning properly, and right now it plays absolutely great! Combined with an old Dukoff Hollywood tenor piece, it sounds as good or better than most of my other horns. I made some impromptu pieces for it by hacking up a Lakey and a Meyer. Let me know if you have a C tenor and need a mouthpiece, because both of these play very well. I just happen to like the Dukoff more. Let's see what else is happening... January 1st is my birthday, and I'm not sure what I
want to do to celebrate it yet. I wish there was some giant vintage saxophone emporium or museum I could wander around in all day. My closet is getting close to that now, especially with the addition of the ultra-rare Buescher Artist Model C tenor and all the Conn horns in there! Up next... Jim's Reference 54 neck (with Penguin!) and who knows what else.

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Sunday 12/19/2004: The Holidays are upon us, and I am going to take a little bit of a vacation for the week. I just completed Tom Green's trumpet, and I have to say it may be the best-looking trumpet I have ever done. The Celtic knotwork runs all the way around the bell, with fill work up to the rim. I did it completely freehand, and let the knots go where they wanted. The result almost looks like highly-stylized Arabic writing. Up next -- shipping stuff out, Bill's gorgeous Mendez trumpet, the two Conn tenors, finish the Buescher True Tone (which I
just repadded myself), the King alto, and whatever else comes in! Have a very happy holiday!

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Monday 12/13/2004: This is just a quick update to show the projects I mentioned below. Tom Green's trumpet is turning out absolutely wonderfully! So far it is done in all Celtic knotwork surrounded by fill work. Then there's my soprano, which I engraved a "Mucha-esque" figure
on, standing only 4 inches high! I also did all of the key cups, even the smallest ones. My camera was running out of batteries, so there aren't as many pictures as I would have liked. On the way is a wonderful Olds Mendez trumpet which I plan on engraving extremely elaborately. I received the three project horns (the two Conn tenors and King alto) and was extremely impressed with the playability of them all. I'm going to repad the tenors, add nice new Protec bags, and engrave the heck out of them. The end product will be two very nice horns! The alto is still a bit of a mystery for me. I am tempted to experiment on it, since it is not a pro horn. I have yet to do a completely art deco horn, and that one may be it... we'll see!

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Wednesday 12/8/2004: It's been a while since I updated as I was very sick for over 2 weeks! I just completed a very, very difficult but fun project for Sarge at World Wide Sax: a gorgeous Conn Portrait alto that needed complete re-engraving. Working on this horn felt like restoring a Rembrandt painting! The engraving was pretty faint, so I had to make up a lot of the fill work, and especially the detail on the portrait. I also went a little crazy tonight and engraved all the keys on my Conn soprano... pictures will be coming soon of that. A little while ago, I engraved my Conn 6M exactly the same as my tenor, and it turned out great. I always dreamed of having a matched set of alto and tenor, and now I have it! The soprano in the back is the 'before' picture. I have two really nice 1921 Conn tenors coming in soon with no engraving, and I plan on giving them the works! They will be up for sale by mid-January. If you want to reserve one of these for Christmas, let me know! I also have a nice vintage King Cleveland alto coming in that I plan on engraving like a classic King. That one should be for sale by February. That's all the news for now... stay tuned for Tom Green's trumpet project, and some other goodies!

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Wednesday 11/23/2004: Well, the cold hit me really hard, and I have been out of ommission. Today I felt better for a little while and finished all of the additional requested work on one of Martin's tubas. It turned out great, but the thin brass is very, very challenging. I also updated the gallery page with my favorite work from other engravers. I have a ton of other non-instrument engraving photos I'll put up eventually too. The work load is going to be increasing soon with some work from Tom Green and Mark at saxquest.com.

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Sunday 11/21/2004: Over the past couple of weeks I have been working to finish the long term projects. And, at long last, I have completed most of them, including Martin's tubas. I am going to do a tiny bit more wok on them and ship them out this week. I put together a special page for William to showcase his remarkable soprano, which I feel comfortable saying may be
the most elaborately engraved saxophone ever. Most of the engraving patterns are small enough to fit on a nickel! I also completed his Selmer tenor neck, and it turned out great! I did a
few special projects including a gorgeous Buescher True Tone alto, and sold them on eBay. The only project horns I have left are my disassembled Buescher True Tone tenor, and the early Conn Art Nouveau alto. I also did some work on my own tenor, a 1949 Conn 10M. Unfortunately I think I am coming down with a cold.

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Monday 11/1/2004: I haven't been updating this site as regularly as I should, but will try and do better. It's been a very busy time of late, especially with all of the political things going on. I
have been continuing work on "Rosetta" as well as finishing one of Martin's tubas -- no small feat considering the complexity of copying a pattern from scratch. I just completed engraving a Dukoff Hollywood mouthpiece that was plated in chrome. This was easily the most difficult job I've done in ages because of the slipperiness and necessity of holding it in my hand while I worked on it. No blood spilled this time, thankfully! I also completed a special job for Anke in Germany. She sent me her C tenor for engraving, and I did it up like a Conn Artist model. Left to do: finish William's jobs, finish the other tuba, and then work on my own projects which will be for sale.

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Saturday 10/2/2004: I took a little hiatus last week thanks to a sore right hand, but went back at it with a vengence today. I worked on the Conn nickel plated alto that I am going to sell on eBay for a while, but haven't got pictures up yet. I completed a quick-turnaround on a Yamaha trumpet, and continued work on the tubas which should hopefully be done before too long. I got some great books on firearms engraving, and it was a major inspiration. The hummingbird on the trumpet wouldn't have happened had I not looked at those books today. I still need to complete the other of the two Conn altos (the second will be done in Art Nouveau style and sold on eBay eventually), William's tenor neck, which will be very experimental and crazy, the tubas, and then my plate is clear! I'm continuing work on silver engraving and may post pictures of that soon. Maybe I'll try my hand at some gun engraving soon...

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Thursday 9/23/2004: I finally completed the Jupiter bari. I will be putting some photos up in the permanent gallery in the coming days. Now it's time to finish a few backlogged projects: the two tubas and William's Super 80 soprano and tenor neck. After that, it's on to my custom Conn altos that I will be selling on eBay. More news on that later...

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Tuesday 9/14/2004: I fixed the broken image links on the main page and did some more work on the Jupiter bari.

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Sunday 9/12/2004: I decided it was time for a total redesign of my site. Many of my most recent projects weren't posted, and I wanted the site to reflect my current artistic style which has expanded quite a bit. I am currently working on a Jupiter bari that came completely nengraved. The owner requested roses and classic floral. It's about a quarter of the way done.