Customer Reviews

Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz

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I am a amateur Tenor Sax player in Brooklyn NY, and I cannot believe how much this book has helped me with the saxophone. He described my state of mind exactly. I had played saxophone in High School and had not played since my first year of college in 1984. About 5 years ago, I was watching a documentary on Charlie Parker heard him play and decided to take it up again at a time in my life when I was single and had no obligations. I thought I would be able to pick it up again and in a small time become good enough to make a career. However the realities of playing the saxophone soon set in and I realized I would never be good enough able to make a living at it without devoting my whole life and energies to it. Then I got married and the challenges of being married and making a living made it very difficult to keep up with jazz and the saxophone however I persevered. Reading this book let me know that it was ok not to make a career out of music, and be able to enjoy it without the pressures of making a living from it. And to see someone else who is married and still finds the time to practice and play and keep a marriage together,(which I know is not easy) helped me tremendously. He also helped me to understand that the frustrations I felt (and still feel!)in learning to play the saxophone were not a result of some innate inability to play the saxophone but are normal and part of the process!! Should be required reading for all who are interested in playing the saxophone.

If you like jazz but don't know why, this book will help you explain it. If you don't know if you like jazz, it will tell you whom you should listen to. If you are sure you like jazz, you will like the book for showing how important music can be in a life. It is a very entertaining combo of music and autobiography.