Thanks for having me on Jay. The three-hour long talk you gave me right afterwards was incredibly insightful. You gave me a lot of clarity in figuring out what I really want to do in the future. And thank you everyone who listened and for all the kind comments - I read them all!
Nathan is a saxophonists' saxophonist! The reality is if a sax player is competent at both genres, the player will get more opportunities. Much respect to Nathan for furthering his studies in saxophone!
I’m originally from Memphis but I moved to New York to do music professionally. When I left, the music scene wasn’t really happening like it used to. It’s crazy to hear Nathan say the music scene is thriving and there is a lot of work in Memphis. That makes me happy to hear that and I really hope it’s true. I wanna see Memphis make a comeback! 🎷
Enjoyed this very much. I’m an old guy (74) and have followed Saxologic for a while now. He makes me laugh. Understand now why he hasn’t posted much. I expect he’ll be a famous musician someday.
After watching this interview if there's just one thing I wish I could tell Nathan it's this: It's my experience that no matter what path you start on, eventually you end up where you want to be. And even if you are currently on a path you don't particularly enjoy, you may find your future self is thankful for the experience. I remember my first job out of college was awful, but I learned so many things and gained so many skills that I wouldn't have learned otherwise so even though I hated the experience, it has made me much better at what I do.
I came upon both channels recently and this interview was very good and looked like a lot of fun too. Love Nathan’s energy, seems pretty cool. I bet he will be a fantastic Professor. Wish him continued success.
What a great interview Jay & Nathan. My Niece just received her Doctorate in medical research and I applaud you for pursuing your passion. I'm going to continue watching Nathans current videos on auto viewing for the views to assist you. I sent the channel out to my friends as well to watch and support both of you guys. Remember, There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. There is no negative experience, only opportunities to grow, learn, and advance along the road of self-mastery. From struggle comes strength. GodSpeed to you both.
He definitely should play a classical video game lick. The Mario cart inspired so many kids to pick up the sax and start playing, and for people already playing, to play more. It definitely has the potential for a big impact in the saxophone world!
I love both of y’all’s content so so so so so so so much and this colab brought me so much joy. I’m a freshman saxophonist, I play classical music and this video made me so so so happy.
Ahh, that was a great interview. I really like Nathan, great to get an explanation as to why he has t been posting bids recently. Restating saxophone in my middle years I sometimes wonder what the journey might have been like had I kept it up in high school. I’m certainly a sax nerd now and passionate about learning music but challenged to find all the time I need for practice with juggling work and family. My advice to my young self? Follow your passion!
I’ve been watching both your videos and Nathan’s videos recently because I bought my first Saxophone (just for fun, and practice. I’m a piano, and french horn player.) I started my undergrad in Music Technology, and this interview spoke to me in ways that I could relate to, and ways that just made me realize that I’m in the right place as a musician, and that I’m not alone in the struggles. Amazing interview, and I hope other people looking for answers or just a musician to relate to, can find some comfort in this.
When two eminent music scholars interact, one has to listen to them with profound diligence so as to gain valuable knowledge, appreciation for music, and, yes, contentment. Watch out! Dr. Nathan is on the lecture circuit with Professor Jay Metcalf. P.S. Never have I seen Nathan so formal and serious - just a bit. Fear not! That's the professor side of him. Hope he will not be stingy in his dispensation of grades to his future students! (smile) Great 👍 conversation 👌 I have to listen to the chat again and again. Love fellows ❤️
Such a inspiring conversation. Nathan tone is something I have been striving toward my own playing his versatility of a sax player truly pushes me to be a better horn player
Great interview with Nathan. I am sad though to hear that the very problems that plague my own field in academia (student in, teacher out) also plague musicians. I hoped you had been spared our curse.
Two of my favorite musicians and you tubers in the same space......super cool! Great interview. Kudos Jay for such amazing content. As a jazz drummer and retired middle school teacher I could so relate to Nathan's struggles as I remember dealing with many of those same things when I was younger. I found Nate through his brother Zack's channel. Both of these young men blow me away with their talent as musicians and their abilities to bring their sense of humor to their channels.They both have such a refreshing approach to music and how they share it with others. Whatever direction Nathan decides to go, I know he will be killing it!
Wow! Once again an interview I thought would be over my head, however I really enjoyed the intellectual conversation about musical trends I was not aware of (The abandonment of tonality in particular) When Nathan said people don't want to learn how to like a genre of music, that was so insightful and salient. Thanks again for broadening my horizons!
I appreciated the story about the guy at Apple. I was reminded of my personal struggle 30yrs ago entering university…. Can a musician be an engineer on the side? Not really. But can the inverse be true? Can an Engineer be a musician on the side? In my experience, no. Either requires too much of yourself to be considered doing the other reasonably well. The fatal flaw of the renaissance man. This was an excellent discussion, thank you both for sharing with us. It’s tough. It’s not just about the music, it’s about you, your relationships, and what you want. That’s the toughest question of them all. What do you wanna be when you grow up?
The discussion topics y’all covered here are so, so important. I had no idea that some smaller schools were angling towards hiring dual-expert teachers over having separate classical and jazz programs (which still doesn’t answer the question of what work for musicians looks like and where to find it!). And the classical scene is just so disconnected and alienated from the larger musical industry and culture right now (besides movie and game media, perhaps)! I don’t think it’s a coincidence that abstract art music is met with suspicion over whether or not it should be the compositional or performance focus of what should be taught and played all the time in the classical scene. Also holy shit, someone really wrote a paper arguing that V-I chord progressions were devised by white men and are therefore racist huh 😂 The conversation about building and retaining an audience, or really even being musically relatable, is really underground. The focus is definitely on perpetuating academic alienation and going military if you want to “play.” Nathan’s right, classical sax is up and coming to a degree. In my experience, clarinet has kinda stagnated outside being an international/world soloist or studio player for film/media. Sax has a lot of good chamber and solo rep that’s gone a bit more “tonal and listenable” recently. I hope more classical cats have this conversation and realize what it takes to get out of academia and into the larger industry, or really even in front of an audience.
A few thoughts. The clicks, etc., is novelty for the sake of novelty...an excuse by academia - publish or perish. FWIW, from a Hofbrau in downtown Sacramento printed in Gothic style: Too soon ve iss oldt, undt too late ve get schmardt. In the end it's funny how similar is the result from figured bass and written out chord language. Of the many musician artists I have met, the the few snobs seem to be the also rans. I had no idea Jay had been a "legit" sax major. I have been wanting to hear how he sounds when playing something lyrical like an alto solo from L'Arlesienne, by George Bizet. I shan't ask. An excellent conversation.
I never listen to classical sax but the few I listened I didn't really like. At least i find it weird and maybe overtime like jazz i could get used to it and like it. I guess it is because it's academic music but I'll let you confirm (Michat's musci in France). Funny thing is he confess in an interview having been sidetracked in his carrier by the "conservatoire" duty and "writing complex music". There is some kind of resonnance ?
I was at the premier of that piece Jess played. For the life of me I can’t remember what it’s called, though I think it’s something like “grasslands” or something similar. I play mostly funk and blues but I really appreciated that piece.
If you're curious to check out some classical music that I think is really cool: Bleep Bloop stuff Impetus by Nina Šenk (if you listen to any of these, listen to this one) [many of the] Etudes by Christian Lauba Nuée Ardente by Vincent David (and many others off his new album) New(ish) Tonal stuff: Sanctuary by Viet Cuong Suite by Fazil Say Concerto after Gliere by David DeBoor Canfield And a lot of stuff I can't think of on the spot.
OMG Sides hurting here near the end as Jay conjures images of *that horror* for those of us that lived thru the times where it didn't matter what you were playing- there would always be someone bellowing "Freebird !" Having that replaced with Zelda ! would be...WTF ??? 🤣☕🐾🤘
Two of my favorite cats in one place! What do you think of the Assassions Creed soundtrack? I think classical sax can open up doors in the field as a compser for video games. Ease up on yourself my Dude. Its like a video game. Sometimes, we feel like "Don't just stand there, do something" when we should consider Dont just do something Just stand there. Like an open sandbox game, every path is open. Slow down. Appreciate the process. Just as with a video game campaign, you will always be learning EASE UP.
Don't worry about being inactive on your CZcams channel while you focus on your studies. You're still so young and will have plenty of time to get it back up and running once you're finished.
According to someone I knew attending classes at USC, Leonard Stein implied in a lecture that Schoenberg's resolve to destroy tonality was in some way related to the passing of his first wife.
Nice review. Personally I did not hear any difference between the saxes. But i do not have the ear for it. You were kind of scaring me with that big kitchen knife lol. Perfect timing for this review as I looking at getting a sax to learn how to play on. The better sax looks and sounds good. I think the corks and the white squares are probably to keep the keys closed when transporting the sax., but they should have been in place when the sax was shipped to you.
Personally I would love to see a video on the Desenclos. I have always said those classical composers trying to find a new language of music fail to understand Eric Dolphy already did it in the sixties. Fortunately it has become ok to write music that makes sense. I hope Jay reaches out to someone more established in classical sax and academia like Tim McAllister to answer some of his questions about school and classical music.
My school didn't even have a "sax" professor, it was still kinda not a "real" instrument. Had to major on clarinet basically! As a plus I'm a way better clarinetist than I ever expected to be, the downside is obvious, LOL!
The "post-tonal" mindset applies to the academic study of ALL classical music, so there's no reason (if you don't like it) to treat it as a special failing of classical saxophone music. With a guest like this, why not take the opportunity to ask him in detail about, say, five pieces of modern classical sax repertoire that he DOES like? Introduce those works to your listeners, rather than complaining about clicks and sound effects. Also, the backlash to atonal music already occurred with the Minimalists 50-60 years ago, and those guys happened to write a lot of nonacademic music featuring saxophones. So this debate is not new.
You should interview Ryan Devlin. Classical sax PHD sucks! They all cut you down to the bone. Be professor if you can dude. Take that gig. CZcams is pay to play. Stay in school.
Ron Carter was (is) wise: he lectured, performed, recorded, toured - - - never did he give up one for the other while he was an active musician. Dr. Yusef Lateef, Dr. Archie Shepp, Dr. Shawn Wallace, Tia Fuller, Sean Jones, Kent Jordan (flute), Hubert Laws (flute), and Sam Newsom are some names that come to mind in that regard.
Thanks for having me on Jay. The three-hour long talk you gave me right afterwards was incredibly insightful. You gave me a lot of clarity in figuring out what I really want to do in the future. And thank you everyone who listened and for all the kind comments - I read them all!
My pleasure man.
I didn't know you were going to be Dr. Saxologic! Good job man!
Cool
What I respect most about Nathan is that he found his own niche and passionately pursued it.
Nathan is a saxophonists' saxophonist! The reality is if a sax player is competent at both genres, the player will get more opportunities. Much respect to Nathan for furthering his studies in saxophone!
This is probably the most important conversation anyone considering getting a degree in saxophone nowadays should listen to.
I’m originally from Memphis but I moved to New York to do music professionally. When I left, the music scene wasn’t really happening like it used to. It’s crazy to hear Nathan say the music scene is thriving and there is a lot of work in Memphis. That makes me happy to hear that and I really hope it’s true. I wanna see Memphis make a comeback! 🎷
The value of honesty is immeasurable! Thank you both for making this video. Nathan is my sax maestro. He’s the best.
Enjoyed this very much. I’m an old guy (74) and have followed Saxologic for a while now. He makes me laugh. Understand now why he hasn’t posted much. I expect he’ll be a famous musician someday.
After watching this interview if there's just one thing I wish I could tell Nathan it's this: It's my experience that no matter what path you start on, eventually you end up where you want to be. And even if you are currently on a path you don't particularly enjoy, you may find your future self is thankful for the experience. I remember my first job out of college was awful, but I learned so many things and gained so many skills that I wouldn't have learned otherwise so even though I hated the experience, it has made me much better at what I do.
What a fantastic interview! Really enjoyed Nathan’s take on playing both styles. As someone who plays and loves both classical and jazz saxophone!
This was a great interview with a great saxophonist and a truly genuine person. Loved it!
I came upon both channels recently and this interview was very good and looked like a lot of fun too. Love Nathan’s energy, seems pretty cool. I bet he will be a fantastic Professor. Wish him continued success.
You should make more videos with him in a future. Keep up the good work!
What a great interview Jay & Nathan. My Niece just received her Doctorate in medical research and I applaud you for pursuing your passion. I'm going to continue watching Nathans current videos on auto viewing for the views to assist you. I sent the channel out to my friends as well to watch and support both of you guys. Remember, There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. There is no negative experience, only opportunities to grow, learn, and advance along the road of self-mastery. From struggle comes strength. GodSpeed to you both.
He definitely should play a classical video game lick.
The Mario cart inspired so many kids to pick up the sax and start playing, and for people already playing, to play more.
It definitely has the potential for a big impact in the saxophone world!
Great video Jay! I really enjoyed the conversation. Hopefully you guys can do it again in the future to see what has changed.
I love both of y’all’s content so so so so so so so much and this colab brought me so much joy. I’m a freshman saxophonist, I play classical music and this video made me so so so happy.
Ahh, that was a great interview. I really like Nathan, great to get an explanation as to why he has t been posting bids recently. Restating saxophone in my middle years I sometimes wonder what the journey might have been like had I kept it up in high school. I’m certainly a sax nerd now and passionate about learning music but challenged to find all the time I need for practice with juggling work and family. My advice to my young self? Follow your passion!
What a good interview buy the way, loved the conversation 🙏🏽
I’m 59 and I think he’s great ! And you J !
I’ve been watching both your videos and Nathan’s videos recently because I bought my first Saxophone (just for fun, and practice. I’m a piano, and french horn player.) I started my undergrad in Music Technology, and this interview spoke to me in ways that I could relate to, and ways that just made me realize that I’m in the right place as a musician, and that I’m not alone in the struggles. Amazing interview, and I hope other people looking for answers or just a musician to relate to, can find some comfort in this.
Super interesting interview! Bravo.
Thanks Jay. I'll never be to the level of you or your guests but continue to learn a lot from you all the same
When two eminent music scholars interact, one has to listen to them with profound diligence so as to gain valuable knowledge, appreciation for music, and, yes, contentment.
Watch out!
Dr. Nathan is on the lecture circuit with Professor Jay Metcalf.
P.S. Never have I seen Nathan so formal and serious - just a bit.
Fear not!
That's the professor side of him. Hope he will not be stingy in his dispensation of grades to his future students! (smile)
Great 👍 conversation 👌 I have to listen to the chat again and again.
Love fellows ❤️
Such a inspiring conversation. Nathan tone is something I have been striving toward my own playing his versatility of a sax player truly pushes me to be a better horn player
Great interview with Nathan. I am sad though to hear that the very problems that plague my own field in academia (student in, teacher out) also plague musicians. I hoped you had been spared our curse.
Two of my favorite musicians and you tubers in the same space......super cool! Great interview. Kudos Jay for such amazing content. As a jazz drummer and retired middle school teacher I could so relate to Nathan's struggles as I remember dealing with many of those same things when I was younger. I found Nate through his brother Zack's channel. Both of these young men blow me away with their talent as musicians and their abilities to bring their sense of humor to their channels.They both have such a refreshing approach to music and how they share it with others. Whatever direction Nathan decides to go, I know he will be killing it!
The collaboration we have all been waiting for
Wow! Once again an interview I thought would be over my head, however I really enjoyed the intellectual conversation about musical trends I was not aware of (The abandonment of tonality in particular)
When Nathan said people don't want to learn how to like a genre of music, that was so insightful and salient.
Thanks again for broadening my horizons!
I appreciated the story about the guy at Apple. I was reminded of my personal struggle 30yrs ago entering university…. Can a musician be an engineer on the side? Not really. But can the inverse be true? Can an Engineer be a musician on the side? In my experience, no. Either requires too much of yourself to be considered doing the other reasonably well. The fatal flaw of the renaissance man.
This was an excellent discussion, thank you both for sharing with us. It’s tough. It’s not just about the music, it’s about you, your relationships, and what you want. That’s the toughest question of them all. What do you wanna be when you grow up?
Thank you
Both my favorite saxophone players in one video and I am just starting to learn saxophone myself
Would you recommend the eastar alto sax
The discussion topics y’all covered here are so, so important.
I had no idea that some smaller schools were angling towards hiring dual-expert teachers over having separate classical and jazz programs (which still doesn’t answer the question of what work for musicians looks like and where to find it!).
And the classical scene is just so disconnected and alienated from the larger musical industry and culture right now (besides movie and game media, perhaps)! I don’t think it’s a coincidence that abstract art music is met with suspicion over whether or not it should be the compositional or performance focus of what should be taught and played all the time in the classical scene.
Also holy shit, someone really wrote a paper arguing that V-I chord progressions were devised by white men and are therefore racist huh 😂
The conversation about building and retaining an audience, or really even being musically relatable, is really underground. The focus is definitely on perpetuating academic alienation and going military if you want to “play.”
Nathan’s right, classical sax is up and coming to a degree. In my experience, clarinet has kinda stagnated outside being an international/world soloist or studio player for film/media. Sax has a lot of good chamber and solo rep that’s gone a bit more “tonal and listenable” recently.
I hope more classical cats have this conversation and realize what it takes to get out of academia and into the larger industry, or really even in front of an audience.
A few thoughts. The clicks, etc., is novelty for the sake of novelty...an excuse by academia - publish or perish. FWIW, from a Hofbrau in downtown Sacramento printed in Gothic style: Too soon ve iss oldt, undt too late ve get schmardt. In the end it's funny how similar is the result from figured bass and written out chord language. Of the many musician artists I have met, the the few snobs seem to be the also rans. I had no idea Jay had been a "legit" sax major. I have been wanting to hear how he sounds when playing something lyrical like an alto solo from L'Arlesienne, by George Bizet. I shan't ask. An excellent conversation.
also your channel helps me out so much
Man
I do a lot of work in Memphis thought he was in Florida!
I did classical saxophone for a year at LSU a long time ago.
this kind of made me think about my decision on what I should focus more on😂
I never listen to classical sax but the few I listened I didn't really like. At least i find it weird and maybe overtime like jazz i could get used to it and like it. I guess it is because it's academic music but I'll let you confirm (Michat's musci in France).
Funny thing is he confess in an interview having been sidetracked in his carrier by the "conservatoire" duty and "writing complex music". There is some kind of resonnance ?
Great interview as always! Will you ever do one with Kenny Garrett?
hopefully
Ngl, it sounds like a small part of Nathan wishes he didn’t do more grad school pursuing classical saxophone. Good on him for sticking with it I guess
I was at the premier of that piece Jess played. For the life of me I can’t remember what it’s called, though I think it’s something like “grasslands” or something similar. I play mostly funk and blues but I really appreciated that piece.
Glasslands
If you're curious to check out some classical music that I think is really cool:
Bleep Bloop stuff
Impetus by Nina Šenk (if you listen to any of these, listen to this one)
[many of the] Etudes by Christian Lauba
Nuée Ardente by Vincent David (and many others off his new album)
New(ish) Tonal stuff:
Sanctuary by Viet Cuong
Suite by Fazil Say
Concerto after Gliere by David DeBoor Canfield
And a lot of stuff I can't think of on the spot.
OMG Sides hurting here near the end as Jay conjures images of *that horror* for those of us that lived thru the times where it didn't matter what you were playing- there would always be someone bellowing "Freebird !" Having that replaced with Zelda ! would be...WTF ???
🤣☕🐾🤘
Two of my favorite cats in one place! What do you think of the Assassions Creed soundtrack? I think classical sax can open up doors in the field as a compser for video games. Ease up on yourself my Dude. Its like a video game. Sometimes, we feel like "Don't just stand there, do something" when we should consider Dont just do something Just stand there. Like an open sandbox game, every path is open. Slow down. Appreciate the process. Just as with a video game campaign, you will always be learning EASE UP.
Don't worry about being inactive on your CZcams channel while you focus on your studies. You're still so young and will have plenty of time to get it back up and running once you're finished.
According to someone I knew attending classes at USC, Leonard Stein implied in a lecture that Schoenberg's resolve to destroy tonality was in some way related to the passing of his first wife.
Nice review. Personally I did not hear any difference between the saxes. But i do not have the ear for it. You were kind of scaring me with that big kitchen knife lol. Perfect timing for this review as I looking at getting a sax to learn how to play on. The better sax looks and sounds good. I think the corks and the white squares are probably to keep the keys closed when transporting the sax., but they should have been in place when the sax was shipped to you.
Personally I would love to see a video on the Desenclos. I have always said those classical composers trying to find a new language of music fail to understand Eric Dolphy already did it in the sixties. Fortunately it has become ok to write music that makes sense. I hope Jay reaches out to someone more established in classical sax and academia like Tim McAllister to answer some of his questions about school and classical music.
My school didn't even have a "sax" professor, it was still kinda not a "real" instrument. Had to major on clarinet basically! As a plus I'm a way better clarinetist than I ever expected to be, the downside is obvious, LOL!
I'm not a Young guy, I'm a older guy learning the. Sax but I want to be a professional just like I did for my former career for 37yrs
At 1:00:00 😂😂
Great video
How do you know, lol? The video is an hour long and was posted only a minute before you commented😂
@@dougjsax i always know
The "post-tonal" mindset applies to the academic study of ALL classical music, so there's no reason (if you don't like it) to treat it as a special failing of classical saxophone music. With a guest like this, why not take the opportunity to ask him in detail about, say, five pieces of modern classical sax repertoire that he DOES like? Introduce those works to your listeners, rather than complaining about clicks and sound effects. Also, the backlash to atonal music already occurred with the Minimalists 50-60 years ago, and those guys happened to write a lot of nonacademic music featuring saxophones. So this debate is not new.
Lot of based takes by Nathan fr
first. comment
Sorry, Jay is ignorant here, particularly his opinions re: repertoire and tonality. His bias is so transparent.
There is no sound!!!
😂
What are you talking about?
Refresh the video, friend. It happens to me sometimes; you just gotta reload the vid.
@@KleinkMusic Thank you very much ❤️❤️
Interview summary:
Hey Nathan, what’s the difference between a pizza and a musician?
A pizza can feed a family of four
Enjoy your career
You should interview Ryan Devlin. Classical sax PHD sucks! They all cut you down to the bone. Be professor if you can dude. Take that gig. CZcams is pay to play. Stay in school.
Ron Carter was (is) wise: he lectured, performed, recorded, toured - - - never did he give up one for the other while he was an active musician.
Dr. Yusef Lateef, Dr. Archie Shepp, Dr. Shawn Wallace, Tia Fuller, Sean Jones, Kent Jordan (flute), Hubert Laws (flute), and Sam Newsom are some names that come to mind in that regard.
To Normalized Audio: Yep!
Classical saxophone is the job you tell your son to get if you hate him.