Saxing Around With Keith: The Sax-Kuwentuhan of Ketong

Episode 9: The Reed Revolution

The tiny piece of cane or synthetic material that costs $3 and completely shapes your sound. This week, Keith takes you through his entire reed journey—from almost quitting because of a ridiculously hard reed, to finally unlocking altissimo, to diving into the world of synthetic reeds. This episode is part gear exploration, part cautionary tale, and part love letter to the cheapest upgrade you can make to your saxophone setup. **What You'll Hear:** • The 2x4 Disaster - Starting on a Vandoren Classical #4 at age 15 (walang hiya!) • The Drop to #3 - Why beginners should start soft and build up • Rico Orange Box - The affordable Hong Kong hookup that lasted until 1996 • The Long Pause - Rebuilding embouchure from zero in the mid-2000s • Rico Royal 2.5 - The comeback reed • The Vandoren Sampler Pack - Testing 5 different reeds to find the right one • The ZZ Breakthrough - Unlocking altissimo for the first time (actual control!) • The ZZ Problem - Fragile, inconsistent, expensive • The Dillon Music Conversation - How a woodwind specialist pointed me to Select Jazz • D'Addario Select Jazz 2M Filed - The Goldilocks reed (bright, consistent, long-lasting) • The BetterSax Detour - Great consistency, darker tone, not quite right • The Cobalt Tool Secret - $8 vs $70 for the same job • Why Synthetic? - Cost, consistency, no prep, no break-in, durability • Forestone Hinoki - The indestructible reed (my son used one for 1.5 years!) • Légère American Cut 2.0 - Love the tone, hate the durability (2 weeks at $42?!) • The 4-Reed Comparison - Hear the difference between D'Addario, BetterSax, Forestone, and degraded Légère • The Wish List - LaVoz (Kenny G's reed), Rigotti Gold, Boston Sax Shop, Fibracell Premier, Forestone Bamboo **Key Lesson:** Reed experimentation is the cheapest way to transform your tone. Don't be afraid to try different brands and strengths—when you find the right reed, it's magic. **Current Setup:** - Reed: D'Addario Select Jazz 2M Filed (or Légère American Cut 2.0) - Mouthpiece: Theo Wanne Earth 2 size 7 - Saxophone: Yamaha YAS-62S This episode includes live demonstrations and side-by-side comparisons so you can hear exactly what Keith is talking about. --- **Contact:** saxingkeith@gmail.com **YouTube:** @JustSaxingWithKeith ---

Episode 8: Farewell to the Colossus - A Tribute to Sonny Rollins

This week, we say goodbye to the Saxophone Colossus. Sonny Rollins - the last of the jazz gods - has left the stage. And for anyone who plays the saxophone, this loss cuts deep. In this extended tribute episode, Keith shares how he discovered Sonny late (thanks to Manila's smooth jazz radio scene), what makes his sound so impossible to replicate, and why his legacy goes far beyond the notes he played. **What You'll Hear:** • The Invisible Giant - Why Sonny wasn't on Manila's jazz radio in the '90s • The Battle of the Horns - Buescher vs. Selmer, Otto Link vs. Berg Larsen • Overtone Mastery - The deceptive simplicity of "Alfie's Theme" and "St. Thomas" • The Warrior Spirit - The Opus 40 jump story (he broke his heel and kept playing!) • Fearless Evolution - From bebop to avant-garde without hesitation • The Sabbatical Master - Williamsburg Bridge, India, and the courage to walk away • The 9/11 Concert - Six blocks from Ground Zero, four days later he played • Pulmonary Fibrosis - How the Colossus found grace when he lost his voice • The Piano-Less Trio - Why Sonny didn't need chords to create a world of sound • The Controversial Take - Why Keith prefers Sonny over Coltrane (it's the fun factor) This episode is reverent, personal, educational, and deeply emotional. It's a celebration of a life spent in service to the music. **Mentioned Albums:** - Saxophone Colossus - The Bridge - Way Out West - Our Man in Jazz - East Broadway Run Down - Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert - Next Album If you play saxophone, or if you just love jazz, this one's for you. Rest in power, Sonny Rollins. The echo of your horn on the Williamsburg Bridge will never fade. --- **Contact:** saxingkeith@gmail.com **YouTube:** @JustSaxingWithKeith

Episode 7 - The Manila Blues - Parallel Universes, Hidden Lineages, and the sound that was always yours

Keith discovers the Manila blues scene he never knew existed — even though he was literally in the same neighborhood, sometimes in the same venues, just on the wrong nights. From Binky Lampano and Dean's December at Red Rocks while Keith was at Birdland watching jazz. To 70's Bistro Sundays he never attended. To Martini's at the Mandarin Oriental where he knew more blues than the band. To the Birdland-to-Ozone Disco tragedy that took 162 lives one month after he left the country. Plus: the complete Manila Blues Taxonomy — BINO, BIVO, BIB, TBR, and a fifth category Keith is coining tonight. The four-district map. The family tree. And why your identity doesn't require having been in the room where it happened. The episode ends with the first installment of the Filipino Blues Suite: "Magtanim ay Di Biro" — a Filipino folk song about planting rice, played as Delta blues. Solo. Raw. The way it starts before the band joins in. The blues was always in the soil. We just didn't know what to call it. Tribute to Binky Lampano, Eddie Katindig, and the Filipino blues pioneers who created art in the margins.

Episode 6: Learning Blues in a Vacuum

Keith shares how he learned to play blues saxophone without a teacher, a local scene, or even YouTube. From Ray Charles's "The Right Time" to a bootleg cassette tape featuring Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornton, Keith traces his blues education from Manila in the 1990s — through years of playing in a vacuum — to his current deep dive into blues saxophone through SaxSchool.online and his transcription project: David "Fathead" Newman's "Hard Times." Along the way, he talks about the honking and growling techniques that define the blues saxophone sound, the challenge of playing blues on alto when most blues is played on tenor, his discoveries of Earl Bostic and Vi Redd, and why he still sings Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" at karaoke — never Elvis's version.

Episode 5: The Multi-Instrumentalist - Gear, Grooves, and the Jam

Keith and Dr. Anton Marquinez continue their conversation with Part 2 - diving deep into Anton's journey as a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, keyboards, saxophone, and the Brazilian cuica drum!), the legendary Iskul Bluekol cover band days, and a full gear shootout comparing Selmer Mark VIs to Yamaha 62 Purple Logos.