JodyJazz Welcomes Kirk Whalum
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We could not be prouder to announce that the great Kirk Whalum is now playing JodyJazz. Kirk had the opportunity to try some of the JodyJazz HR* Tenor mouthpieces and “the rest is
history” as they say! One of the most well-known saxophone artists in the world with one of the most recognized saxophone sounds on the planet, Kirk Whalum's music has been described as "Soulful", "Passionate" and "Stirring". Kirk’s unmistakable big, rich tenor sound is deeply rooted in his Memphis, gospel background and was honed in the nightclubs of Houston, Texas. It was here that Kirk
also developed his songwriting skills and first lead his own bands. It was also in Houston where acclaimed jazz pianist Bob James “discovered” him and brought him on tour. This then led to five successful albums with Columbia Records, including 'Cache', Kirk’s first #1 album, and in addition, Kirk and Bob received a Grammy nomination for their collaboration album 'Joined at the Hip'. After moving to Los Angeles, Kirk became one of the most in-demand studio musicians in town, recording with the
likes of Barbara Streisand, Al Jarreau, Luther Vandross, Larry Carlton, Quincy Jones and Whitney Houston, among many others. Most famously it’s Kirk’s saxophone on Houston’s mega-hit 'I Will Always Love You'. Owing to the ubiquitous radio presence of this hugely popular song, Kirk’s solo is considered to be one of the most broadly heard pieces of saxophone playing of all time. Kirk followed that with perhaps his most successful solo recording of all, the phenomenal hit album 'For You.
Other successful projects include the much lauded 'Gospel According to Jazz series' and the popular soul/jazz group 'BWB' which also features Rick Braun and Norman Brown.
Kirk not only touches people through his music, he has earned a Masters of Art in Religion and is an ordained minister. He serves the spiritual needs of his community
in various ways when he is not touring. He also hosts a popular daily fifteen minute podcast, Bible In Your Ear (BIYE), in which he reads through the Bible in a year. In addition to music and ministry, Kirk has a passion to educate young, aspiring musicians and is currently engaged as a music professor at Visible Music College in his hometown of Memphis.
Kirk is the recipient of numerous awards and acknowledgements for his musical excellence including three Dove Award nominations, an NAACP Image Award nomination and has won two Stellar Awards-Gospel music’s highest honor. A twelve time Grammy nominee, Kirk won his first Grammy award (2011) for Best Gospel Song (‘It’s What I Do’ featuring Lalah Hathaway) alongside life-long friend and gifted songwriter, Jerry
Peters.
Kirk’s newest recording “#LOVECOVERS” is his career highest ranking Debut on the Billboard Jazz & Gospel Charts. It features inspirational covers of Stevie Wonder's
"Have A Talk with God," Beyoncé's "Love On Top," and Whalum's first ever studio recording of "I Will Always Love You." Look out for our new Ad featuring Kirk in Downbeat Magazine. Kirk is playing the HR* Tenor 8 with the HRT1 POWER RING Ligature. We are delighted to welcome him to
the JodyJazz Family. We are excited to unveil the very first images of our new range of Chedeville mouthpieces. Since the acquisition of the famous Chedeville company, Jody and his advisory team of experienced
players and educators have been working around the clock to develop this new range. Available first will be the Chedeville Elite Series Bb Clarinet mouthpieces and the Chedeville RC Series Saxophone mouthpieces offering Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone models. Each of these models will be available in a comprehensive selection of tip openings. Ultimately the Chedeville line will offer a complete selection of Classical Clarinet and Classical Saxophone
Mouthpieces. Our new Chedeville range features a proprietary hard rubber formulation that is unquestionably the most accurate recreation of the original Chedeville rubber, which
made those mouthpieces so highly coveted. It has the same amazing resonance and superlative sonic properties as the original "Golden era" mouthpieces of the 20's and 30's and we have designated it as “Chedeville Hard Rubber’. All the mouthpieces in the range made from this proprietary hard rubber will bear the ‘CHR’ mark. So in future, if you don’t see the ‘CHR’ mark, it’s not genuine Chedeville Hard Rubber! Owing to its storied history and legacy, the Chedeville name is well known among more experienced
players, especially in the clarinet world, and vintage Chedeville mouthpieces remain highly coveted pieces. But the name is less well known among younger players and certainly not well known outside of the world of classical clarinet and saxophone. Jody was interested to learn how the average individual might pronounce the word “Chedeville” and also what kind of product they would think it might be. So he went to Savannah’s famous Forsyth Park one day to casually interview some passersby with
some pretty interesting and humorous results. Check out the video here. The new Chedeville.com website is scheduled to go live in
mid-December and the mouthpieces will be formally launched at the 2019 Winter NAMM trade show. We will begin shipping in February 2019. Each mouthpiece is packaged with pouch in an elegant and unique bamboo canister. They are available now for Pre-Order. Get your name on the list! Please contact us at [email protected] for more info. Here’s another sneak peek at another new product release scheduled for early 2019. We are expanding the popular SUPER JET Series with Baritone and Soprano models. The SUPER JET Series continues to be one of our most popular and successful series and
we will soon be completing the range with the introduction of these two new models. The new SUPER JET Baritone will be available in 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 tip openings and the Soprano will be available in 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 tip openings. The SUPER JET Baritone is the ultimate
contemporary-sounding Baritone mouthpiece with a distinctive, powerful sound, which is not for the faint of heart! Though it is super-powerful with plenty of edge and insane altissimo, there is still enough bottom in the sound to make it more versatile than most mouthpieces in the small chamber category. Offering strong projection and a bright powerful tone, the new SUPER JET Soprano mouthpiece is ideal for the player looking for more edge and the ability to cut through louder music. But
characteristically, like the rest of the SUPER JET Series, there is still plenty of warmth in the sound allowing it to express the full tonal range of the soprano saxophone. "These mouthpieces are super fun to play," said Jody Espina, Founder & President of JodyJazz Inc. "Anyone who likes plenty of volume and cutting power but does not want to sacrifice a great saxophone tone, will love these mouthpieces."
Developed specifically with the Contemporary Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Rock and Funk player in mind, the SUPER JET Series offers particular characteristics that we had not offered in our range previously. The entire series has since become one of the company's
most successful with several of the Alto and Tenor models now among our very best sellers.
The new SUPER JET Baritone and Soprano models are made at the JodyJazz factory in
Savannah, GA utilizing five-axis CNC technology and state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. These Silver-Plated Brass mouthpieces are individually hand-crafted to the strictest quality standards and every single mouthpiece is fully gauged and play tested by experienced professionals before it leaves the factory. The new SUPER JET Baritones have an MSRP of $450.00 and the Sopranos have an MSRP of $350.00. Each mouthpiece ships with Ligature, Cap &
Pouch. They will be available February 2019. You can pre-order yours today, be the first on the list! Please contact us at [email protected] for more info. The annual Music China Trade Show in Shanghai continues to grow rapidly in size and importance and once again JodyJazz was there with a strong presence. With China now the second-largest
consumer market in the world, there's no sign of this show slowing down any time soon.
Before the Music China show, JodyJazz Founder and President, Jody Espina visited Taiwan
to perform a masterclass and concert, organized in association with P. Mauriat Music, JodyJazz's distributor in Taiwan and China. The Masterclass was held at the P. Mauriat showrooms, where a select group of serious students received instruction from Jody in a range of subjects from improvisation techniques to sound development and mouthpiece selection. The next day Jody hosted a special 'Jazz Jam
Session' concert at the Backstage Cafe, a great music club, also in Taipei. The concert also featured special guests from Thailand, JodyJazz artists Kwang and Pang the Saxpack Girls and Mr KOH Saxman, one of the most popular and acclaimed sax players in all of
Asia. Supported by an accomplished backing band, the show was a sell-out and the crowd let their appreciation be known with rapturous applause after each tune. Here's Jody with the P. Mauriat team. We want to say 'Thanks' to them for organizing two such fantastically successful
events. Then it was on to Shanghai for the Music China Show. Each Year the show breaks new records and this year was no different. The 2019 show numbers were as impressive as
ever; over 110,000 visitors from 81 countries, visiting 2,252 international and domestic exhibitors. This was an increase of over 5% from 2017. And in terms of exhibit space also, the show grew by 10.4% this year to 452,756 square feet now taking up 12 halls at the massive Shanghai New International Expo Center.
Several JodyJazz Artists joined Jody to appear at the show; Jason Marshall from New York, Fabia Mantwill from Germany, Kwang and Pang the Saxpack Girls from Thailand and newest JodyJazz Endorser Sanpond, also from Thailand. All the artists were very busy each day going backwards and forwards between the JodyJazz and P. Mauriat booths for performances all throughout the day.
Jason and Fabia joined Jody several times at the JodyJazz booth for some impressive performances which provided the pleasing contrast of Soprano, Alto and Tenor. They were also joined by the Saxpack Girls and Sanpond for some rousing performances which also gave the opportunity to showcase Jason Marshall’s trademark Baritone
playing. Needless to say for each of these performances the booth was immediately surrounded by hordes of
appreciative listeners. In addition to the regular booth performances
there were two concerts performed with full band on the Expo Center’s outdoor stage right in the middle of the fair grounds. Under Jody’s leadership all the Artists performed together including Mr. KOH Saxman. Both these concerts drew huge crowds who flocked to the stage to listen to all the great music. With the Holidays just around the corner we’d like to remind everyone that JodyJazz offers a great range of gift ideas for the saxophone player in your life. Not only mouthpieces, but also
DVDs, CDs, T-shirts and Accessories. It can be difficult to pick out a mouthpiece for someone else, so these other items make great choices for gifts. Or you might want to consider a JodyJazz gift certificate! You can choose the value you want and the gift certificate is redeemable for any products sold on the JodyJazz site including mouthpieces, DVDs, CDs and Accessories too. Our new beautifully handcrafted solid wood saxophone stand makes the perfect gift. Each stand is unique in color and grain pattern and has a beautiful hand rubbed natural oil finish. This is
a furniture-quality stand that will last you a lifetime. Or another safe bet for a great gift is our attractive new Coffee
Mug. If you are looking for a gift for the saxophone player in your life, or looking just to treat yourself, you’ll find no better choice of gift than at the JodyJazz website. |
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