Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz (Limelight) [Paperback] Review

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 collegein 1984. About 5 years ago, I was watching a documentary on CharlieParker 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 pickit 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 toit. 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 helpedme to understand that the frustrations I felt (and still feel!)in learning to play the saxophone were not a result of some innate inability toplay the saxophone but are normal and part of the process!! Should be required reading for all who are interested in playing the saxophone.

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Product Description:
A "fakebook" is a collection of melodies with the chord changes that allows jazz musicians to read the tunes instead of playing solely by ear and memory. It is, then, a place to start, a structure upon which jazz improvisation, "faking," builds. As a young man, the author, a jazz saxophone player, tried to make a living at what he loved most. He failed, gave up jazz and became a college English professor. Today he is playing his saxophone again, at weekend gigs, rediscovering the unending challenge and the fulfillment that jazz brings him. This journey of self-discovery demonstrates the power of both jazz and superbly crafted writing.

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