Lenny Pickett

A while ago someone was basically asking, 'who was Lenny Pickett.' And someone mentioned a live song by Little Feat that he and the TOP horns played on that has a deadly solo on it. I found it. It's called Mercenary Territory. After his quite funky solo, Lenny slurs about 2 octaves up to the highest C on the piano (basically running up the scales and than naturally resolving them) and stops perfectly in tune on that C. Wow. Can that be achieved by just using overtones on the low notes or just higher partials of already existing altissimo fingerings? When he slurs up, it sounds like a friggin jet plane taking off.

Speaking Lenny, is there any transcriptions of him somewhere? I had a roommate(Matt) in Florida who used to record the SNL Intros on minidisk. Man, if you guys can check out the touring show 'Blast II: Shockwave' do it. Matt is the lead tenor and he's got the range close to Lenny. He hits the 4th G above the staff at the end...sorry if i spoiled it for anybody.

daveE

That would've been me. That solo just knocked me out when I first heard it. It is SO nasty!! I can duplicate that effect by putting my bottom teeth on the reed, gently, and very slowly, drag your teeth off the end of the reed while blowing. I start this at about G4 and it goes into the dog tones. Good luck.

Alastair Ingram www.saxlessons.com

HOLY SH*T HOLY SH*T HOLY SH*T

I just heard that solo, WOW! Once my juries are over That's all I'm going do to.

Yeah thats one way. But I know for a fact that when Lenny does it, his embocure is correct and doesn't change a bit. Looks the same from bottom Bb to D(7). Incredible.

-Brian

Hey Brian, that is one COOL solo! More than anything, his attitude comes raging through. GREASY! I don't think my embouchure looks any different when I do this. What I change is inside my mouth. How do you know what's going on inside his mouth? Not trying to argue, we both agree that Lenny has phenomenal control over his horn. However he does it is cool with me. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he gets this effect without putting his teeth on the reed. I think he plays on a Berg that's been opened to 160, so that would facilitate that effect. Any port in a storm.

Alastair Ingram www.saxlessons.com

I'm not trying to argue either. Sorry if I came off that way. I was just saying that from disucssions with people and watching him do this stuff on SNL, I'm 99% sure that he does it with an unaltered emberchure. Wasn't trying to oppose anything, just sharing relavent data. His berg is a 130/0 sms with some alterations that I don't know specifically, but have to do with opening up the sound.

-Brian

I heard him do a concert a few years ago - mostly just him, with occasional tape backup, doing his own semi-classicalish compositions. (I think they were writted for dancers.)

Then I think he was joined by Steve Slagle (?) on alto, and a drummer.

As I recall, he played tenor sax, Eb soprano clarinet, and tenor sarusophone (with a single reed mouthpiece). He sounded great on everything. I particularly recall a cool sort of popping electronic-ish sound he was able to get our of the throat register on the Eb clarinet.

If you're really into Lennie, there's a chapter by him in a book called something like 'Sax and Flute Lessons by the Pros'. I haven't looked at in a long time, but I think he talks about practice techniques, harmonics, etc. I think he mentions the importance of Sigurd Rascher's 'terraced dynamics' (?) exercise - sudden controlled transitions in volume, rather smooth crescendos and decrescendos.

STEVE ELSON

I just bought a gret book from windplayer.com called saxophone master class. It has articles but top sax players on pedagogical issues. It has great article by Lenny Pickett on the things he practices to develop and maintain is altissimo technique. I highly recommend it. I think the book was $17 with S&H.