Hey guys - I just found the video posted with Tony Guerrero and Greg Vail live on Breakfast with Gary and Kelly and I wanted to share it.

The music portion of the broadcast is cued up for your viewing and enjoyment! We did 3 songs together that day.

I can only cue the tracks with links - embedding does not allow for a start point.....

A old school jazz piece Tony Guerrero wrote...
http://youtu.be/LBaF5OfxKuU?t=1m32s

Latin Jazz favorite Fire Dance
http://youtu.be/LBaF5OfxKuU?t=43m54s

A little Latin Flute for you
http://youtu.be/LBaF5OfxKuU?t=21m11s

KSBR Birthday Bash is coming - May 26th - Sunday during Memorial Day Weekend and this is the big 25th Anniversary Show! Get over to www.KSBR.net and hit the BASH button to order tickets today! Tony has been the host of the KSBR BASH every year since it started. Greg Vail has been a guest performer for 20? BASH Events and counting! Hope to see you all there on May 26th!! Mission Viejo California - see the KSBR Site for more info....

Hey guys - I just got code for a new widget from CD Baby for my Smooth Jazz Sax CDs - Smooth Jazz Classics and Emotion!

Thought I would share it here and post a quick reminder that there are 2 great Smooth Jazz CDs I have released over the past years that I am very proud of. Emotion was released in 1995 and re released on Greg Vail Music in 2002 - now on Innervision Records. Smooth Jazz Classics is a project Tony Guerrero and I worked on for more than a year and it sounds amazing! Favorite classic smooth jazz songs from the 70's 80's and 90's - You know most of these tracks!

Both CDs are available at CD Baby as CD purchases or for download!! Thanks for looking! (and listening...)

Things are starting to get crazy around here. This past week was pretty awesome. Starting last weekend with a live broadcast with Tony Guerrero on Breakfast with Gary and Kelly, Tony and I performed live on the cable show and started talking up the KSBR Bash, scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend - Sunday May 26th this year in Mission Viejo CA. It was really fun!

The BASH is a major Orange County Event! Tickets are available at www.KSBR.net

Here is a fun pic from the show...



Awesome pic - Copyright Steve Wylie - THANKS STEVE!!

I know you may here a lot about Magnetiq on this blog. We are a new band that doesn't really fit in the box. Not Smooth Jazz - Not really originals - Not a typical tribute band since those are always vocal rock bands. Magnetiq is a Michael Brecker Tribute that covers music that Brecker did thru the years. I love this band because it adventurous and passionate music.

Magnetiq was in rehearsal and had a first show at a new venue in Glendale CA. Mambos! The show was awesome and we are busy learning new material.

On the way to the gig this past Tuesday I got a call from my Yamaha contacts that they needed a sax player added last minute to the Corporate Kick Off show the next day and they wanted me to get there NOW! I had to say no cuz I was on the way to Glendale, but did work out the Wednesday show!

I got to play at the big show! Cerritos Performing Arts Center is always a treat! The line up was awesome! Lee Ritenour with guest Patrice Rushen killed as a quartet! Patti Austin with a small choir - DANG! She is amazing! As she walked off stage she said, "This is the most fun you can have while keeping your clothes on!" - hilarious last words for the show! James Ingram is always killin' and it was so cool to see James and Patti together!! Then out comes a new Yamaha dude - Jonathan Butler - I ALWAYS LOVE THIS GUY! He took it to the sweetest place! Nathan East MD - and I was the solo sax guy - no horns this time - SOOOOO BLESSED! Love my Yamaha family!!

Thursday we hit Martin Gershawitz show at Hennesseys in Dana Point - always fun. Martin is the lead singer and keyboard player for Iron Butterfly! We always have a blast there! Friday I was with Dean Grech and Hal Ratliff at McCormick and Schmicks in Anaheim. Saturday a big fund raiser for the Orange County Food Bank with my 6 piece casual band and I did a set of solo sax with my Sax Single. Crazy night and huge load out with 2 sound systems and a very late night. Had Church this morning at Hope Crossing with Ken Ericson and my lovely wife on drums!

The entire time I have been working on charts for the upcoming Greg Vail Show in Wheaton IL on June 29th - Charts, reviewing music and contacting the players to prepare!

Here is the Flyer for the show - June 29th - Wheaton IL - Greg Vail Band - Gospel Jazz

Sax Player Blog

I know many people check out the blog because I have statistics available every week. What I don't know, is how many people know why the blog was created and why I update it.

Greg Vail Sax

I know this blog is all about what I am doing and progress on different projects and what not. The concept for the blog was information and updates on my music schedule and projects I am working. The latest news on Greg Vail Music will always be right here, and maybe quick shouts on Twitter (which I have a feed top of the blog page - right side) and FaceBook updates.

Modern Sax Player

The other reason was, I found so many people curious about the life of a musician or sax player. I have had as many questions about what reed I use or my mouthpiece of choice, as I have regarding being a professional sax player!

Sax Players Blog

The blog is named - A Sax Players Blog - A Day in a Life... So I would guess the visitors to the blog will be sax players, want to be sax players, people curious of musicians, friends and fans of Greg Vail Music, and internet searches that caught someones attention due to the content of a post.

To each, I would like to thank you for stopping in and reading the Sax Players Blog, and I would like to encourage you to share the blog with someone who comes to mind when you see he list of people this is written for.

For the curious folks - this blog averages 950 visitors a day, although, a mention from Conan O'Brien can mean 15k views the next day! Bottom line is - I appreciate you and love the web. Come back anytime you want and maybe BOOKMARK it in your favorites - there are posts every few days and always drama going on..........

Greg Vail Sax - gvSAXBOY - saxboy - thx..........

New You Tube Sax Videos

A new band - Oceans of Sand - has been uploading new video from a recent live video shoot and I love these clips. Here are a few more from the video session.

This track in called Oceans of Sand and features Greg Vail on Alto Saxophone. Enjoy....



Here is another Oceans of Sand Clip - Jessica is a Soprano Saxophone feature that I first recorded with this same band 25 years ago!! Here is a fresh look at a classic and all live audio and video - Jessica - Greg Vail Soprano Sax




Thanks for tuning in and thanks for watching!!!

Greg Vail Sax - SAXBOY - GVsaxboy online
www.gregvail.com - www.gregvail.me www.saxplayersblog.com

Tenor Sax Solo

Hey guys and gals! It is April! Easter is gone and was awesome. Life is screaming forward and I am excited about a few new video clips. I love LIVE! Live music is real music! Anybody can sound good in a studio thanks to computer editing. ANYBODY! Live music is a different thing.

Tenor Sax Solos

To celebrate to soon to be announced release of Dean Grech's upcoming CD - I found some video footage of the Dean Grech Band live at Spaghetinni in Seal Beach. Not a perfect video clip, but clean and sounds good overall - and I like the live sax player enough to admit it was me! 8)

NEW BAND - Tenor Sax Solo

Here is a new band I started working with - Oceans of Sand. We did a live video shoot and recorded live to protools so we could mix this and make it sound really clean too! I love Steely Dan and think the sax is pretty screaming on this version of Josie.

Brecker Tribute - Tenor Sax Solo

Last and not least - I have been working with a Micheal Brecker Tribute band for a few years now - Magnetiq. This is a new solo tenor sax edit I just posted on you tube. Hope you enjoy the new video clips!

Saxophone Session for Hire

Need a great Sax Player for a recording you are working on or on one of your great songs??

I have been busy recording again this past week and I have some available space for recording for your project if you would like to hire a sax player online for a recording session. You can read below more how it works since we talk about home recording sessions all the time on this blog.

I mentioned the new blues band in the last post. We have been busy working on the first CD which has no name just like the band right now 8)

I recorded sax live on the day we tracked rhythm section tracks, and I kept a lot of that but rerecorded sax on parts I knew could be better. We finished all the sax parts this week and move on to vocals and back up vocal parts this next week - EXCITING!

I had a few more home sax sessions this week - did a track for a guy named Carlo - featured fretless bass. I added Soprano Sax and Flute parts and it turned out really nice!

I have a friend I recorded an entire CD with a while back and he is back with new tracks! Burt Shure brought me 2 songs to record and I got them done today and await authorization to send the WAVE files!

I do have to admit - every session is not at the home studio! I did a Showtime movie session today with John Schriner at his studio JAS Productions. Only 3 cues needed but always fun to record in a real old school studio with the Showtime folks standing around and impressed at the entire process.

That's it for now on recording. Open starting tomorrow or Saturday for some new tunes to track if you need it!

AKAI did me very right with a new EWI just received yesterday to replace an older 4000s that started acting up! Very glad to have a new piece!

WWBW just sent me a really crazy new sax strap to review for the next catalog and online. Still doing plenty of writing when I can and love adding my input at Woodwind and Brasswind!! (It is the new harness strap by Vandoren!) Gotta hit that review tomorrow!

Thanks for keeping connected and dropping by the Sax Players Blog! Blessings and Peace to all!

Greg Vail Saxophones/EWI/Flutes and more.....

This year has the the year of the home studio for me! I have not been out doing the club work I used to do and the shows have been more slow in coming thus far (but that changes a bit in June with East Bay Soul shows starting).

I have been working, a track at a time, and over the past year or more, on Dean Grech's upcoming CD. This past few days I tackled a track that needed live horns to replace so kinda lame midi horns. I started with some of the lines that he had and then began doing more development and shaping over the track.

The end product was really nice. I loved it and Dean had little to say other than he might pull a few jabs out of the horns felt too busy. The song has a working name but no real name yet so I can't really tell you what it is yet. When it is done and available, I can explain and give examples.

Home Studio Recording

The home sessions have been keeping me alive this year and I am very grateful for the calls, and for my friend Gordon Rustvold for helping me with ProTools answers when needed and for keeping the system running clean.

This horn section I recorded all saxes - 2 Alto - 2 Tenor 1 Bari saxophone. Dean will likely add trumpet to give it a horn section feel and not a sax section feel. Dean has a few trumpet guys he is using on this project and recording has been great for this CD!

My input is arranging, working with the writer to get horn parts he loves and recording saxophones here at my home studio and then sending files to drop into his session.

Recording Saxophone

Recording Saxophone works great from home since I can work out really great parts, out of the expensive studio, and then track at home as the expense is low, and the end product ends up sounding great.

I will be posting all about the new Dean Grech CD once it is available and we are near the end of the project now so it should be pretty soon!

Exciting stuff is coming! Remember a few posts back that I have a new Blues Band that is in the studio too! I love recording my saxophones almost as much as I love playing them live, in concert!

GVsaxboy - Saxboy - Greg Vail

I started a new project with some dear musician friends! We started an album of original material and the band is a blues rock band that features 2 guitar players, sax and bass and drums!

We have all played together for decades in different bands and there are no egos or head trips with these guys. We recorded all day Monday and Tuesday and now start some edits and individual parts - picking the parts we like best and the sounds so the vibe of the band is cohesive.

We tracked it all live at Rick White's home studio. The feel is great and the variety is perfect - not just a bunch of shuffle's!

I even wrote an instrumental with Gordon Rustvold and brought in lyrics my wife and I worked on for the band to input the music to go with them. I am really excited how great the music is! The main writers are Rick White and Bob Moore and they had great tunes! But Gordon and I did the sax tune, John Ferraro brought in a tune and my vocal track the band worked on makes 12 tunes for the first CD!

We have no name for the band yet - but are working on music like it should be - and then will figure out what to call it. The goals are many but I just hope we can book up some gigs and continue to grow as a unit!

Working on another tune now! I like this blues band thing!!! I will update as things move forward 8)

Greg Vail Blues Boy Sax 8)

This year has been really slow since the NAMM Show (which was off the chart for fun!)

This past few week have been pretty brutal! Not playing enough - not making any money and not happy about either! I have to saw it has been humbling and a bit scary and I have been praying a lot for something to happen and working hard at trying to make something happen!

I got an exciting call today from Greg Adams. I have been filling in occasionally with the East Bay Soul Band for a few years now and Greg offered me the Alto Tenor chair in the horn section!! I am very excited about the gig and hope I can cover all the upcoming gigs to really lock it in. This is a top notch organization and I love my time with these guys so far!

It is starting to look like a busy year might slowly be shaping up. I also had a meeting wiht a new blues band project that has great players and dear friends too! The meeting went great and we are looking to start recording next week! Love It!!

It is possible that this year is looking up! God is always so faithful to my family and this would be just another case of His promises being true! The Magnetiq band (Brecker Tribute) has dates coming up! The new Oceans of Sand videos look great and dates are very likely with this project! Dean Grech's new CD is nearing completion and I have a lot of playing invested in this project with high hope of a lot of activity once it is released! I also have my big Gospel Jazz show coming up in June in Chicago and there are grand expectations that this too could be a new direction and game changer.

I could get into more of the smaller stuff, like a friend that landed a new TV show that is very likely to be picked up and the music is jazz! Guess who his jazz connection is?? I have been working hard and praying harder - things are starting to look like the clouds are clearing and the dust is settling!

As always - I will keep the news hitting right here on the Greg Vail BLOG - Sax Players Blog - A Day in the Life.

Today I am encouraged.....