Nick Brignola - Burnin' Baritone!

Hello! I realized I haven't featured a baritone saxophonist yet, which is kind of embarrassing since I'm primarily a baritone player myself. So tonight let's check out a little Nick Brignola.

Brignola has long been considered one of the great bari players; he's well recorded and easily found on iTunes and YouTube. This 1996 video showcases Brignola and his quartet performing the standard tune, "I Remember April." Band includes Phil Markowitz (piano), John Lockwood (bass), and Rick Montalbano (drums).

I'd describe Brignola's playing as fiery. Listen to the way he pushes the melodic lines with a relentless energy; his command of the altissimo on baritone is among the best in the business, although he always uses it musically and not just for show. He also has a true hard bopper's ability to create long, flowing phrases without sounding like he's repeating himself.

There's only one way to describe how to become as great a player as someone like Nick Brignola: practice. I think Charlie Parker once said - I'm paraphrasing here - "You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail."

With all due respect to Bird...that's what it may sound like to the listener, but I think it's not really quite that simple.

When you're soloing, you're making conscious decisions about the shape of the line, the notes you pick, the length of the phrase you're playing at that moment - there are hundreds of decisions you're making on-the-fly as you play a single solo. Practicing your instrument and developing the ability to connect it to your brain really does reduce the amount of time it takes for you to get the musical idea out of your head, out through your fingers, and then out the other end of the horn.

AND...the more stuff you listen to, the more ideas you'll generate on your own...so the faster you can sort through your musical choices, make decisions, and get the ideas out through your instrument, the better your playing will sound.

Enough about practicing! I'm sure you get it by now. Here's one other baritone video to check out - this is Gerry Mulligan with tenor saxophonist Ben Webster on a tune called "Who's Got Rhythm." This is one of Mulligan's most burning solos ever!