@ Steve I have learned “Lost in the Fifties” as it was part of my series of uploads…it’s great fun on the Tenor 🙂 Will upload it as soon as possible. I’m on my way to making a full recovery from Oral Surgery and my post-surgery therapy runs until beginning of October and then I get re-evaluated. From there I’ll have a definately time table on things. I did get medical clearance to start my practice sessions and I started now in August…just taking it slow and easy with basic exercises. You would be amazed how much good Johnny’s exercises here on his home page has helped in my recovery, especially his “ehh ahh” exercise.

@ Dazza–I’ve never played the Tenor RAW or the RAW XS, so have no personal insights there other than just my own personal opinion. But just from the SR Tenor that I do own I can tell you that you would be in great hands with either one of those Tenors. Remember that the RAW and RAW XS are their Pro Model Saxophones, my SR Tenor is an Intermediate model–although it used to be classified as their pro model Tenor until they released the RAW and RAW XS, then it got bumped down to an Intermediate class…don’t let that fool you 🙂 Johnny lives close to Sandro Massullo, the owner of the North American Distributor of Trevor James Saxophones; not sure if Johnny has ever got a chance to contrast the RAW and RAW XS models. I know he used the RAW model for his Baker Street and Careless Whisper uploads, but it was the Alto. I have the same Signature Custom Alto model that Johnny covered in his review, but mine is the Gold Lacquered model and it was about $700 less than the RAW model…simply an outstanding Alto Sax. Can’t say enough about it. Bear in mind that just because something cost more doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better. A lot of it would just come down to personal preference. Johnny posted his review of the RAW Trevor James Alto in the blog a couple years back, here’s the link to that post in the blog. It would be awesome if he could do a review on the Tenor Model sometime.

Trevor James Alto Saxophone

Between the RAW and RAW XS for both Alto and Tenor, they seem to be very similar and from the take of other pro players like Trevor James’ Endorser Andy Snizter and pro Sax player Steve Cole who is now endorsing Trevor James Saxophones (he’s talked about them on facebook and is on my friend list) it seems to come down to personal preferences. Ergonomically, both Saxophones are exactly identical. The only difference is that the RAW XS has polish added to the RAW dip and the RAW model is not polished at all. I personally wouldn’t see the justification in popping out an extra $1,000 for such minor differences.