Bruce Springsteen/Clarence Clemmons "Ramrod" Sax solo :)

[Michael]

Have a listen to this fantastic little Sax solo by Clarence Clemmons 🙂 Really cool how he used only a handful of notes in this solo to create tension/relieve that tension. I’m not sure if there’s ever been anyone who had a more ferocious tone on the Saxophone than Clarence Clemmons had, this is GOOD stuff 🙂

[Mel]

Clarence was awesome with the E Street Band. Hope to play all his solos some day. JungleLand, Born To Run, Thunder Road, Hungry Heart, Dancing In The Dark, Bobby Jean.

The list is long!

[Michael]

Good choices Mel, all of those are great songs! When it comes to Clarence Clemmons, this one below is probably my all-time favorite that he did on the Saxophone. Johnny could make an absolutely killing Sax Cover to this one 🙂

[Mel]

Another good one Michael! Almost forgot the big names Clarence all played for.

[john]

ya good sounding stuff. All Clarence’s solos fall into the catogory
of the pentatonic scales which means they’re easily copied (5 notes)
I made a post about this exact thing showing several famous solos that
also fall into this category:
https://howtoplaysaxophone.org/what-do-these-5-songs-have-in-common

[Mel]

Johnny just ordered the E Book. Jake Clemons ( now filling in the E Street Band for Clarence ) is called The Little Bigman because Clarence was the Bigman. I wonder what my nick name will be??? Ahhhhh just dreaming a little. LOL!

[jake]

Nice topic on Clarence. I was asked to cover this solo recently (Jungleland) so I started learning it this week. Couple timing issues and a squwak here n there but its coming along. Gotta really listen to Clarence now and own it!!
And by the way Michael I never heard that song Ramrod but instantly loved it. Great classic rock jamming there!!

[Michael]

@ Johnny–just a few days ago I shared that very same article in your blog with a local Sax player here whose a fan of contemporary jazz (nothing wrong with that kind of music at all, there’s some good stuff in there for sure) I had mentioned to him that some of the world’s greatest solos used only a handful of notes and he was disagreeing with me, so I showed him that article and we listened to those solos. I had also mentioned to him to listen to Big Jay Mcneely’s playing because in many of his licks/riffs he used a single note! An eye opener for sure, sounds great too. He had never heard of Big Jay or King Curtis.

@ Jake–Thanks for sharing that Jake, sounds like you’re really feeling comfortable on your Guardala 🙂 Your tone is getting much more open and clean, that is cool! You obviously have an MP that you feel comfortable with and it’s working for you….now, just listen…and listen….and listen….and listen…and listen (LOL) to Clarence Clemmons and get his sound in your head, just like you said. Once you have it burned in your mind, you’ll be able to get it to project out of your Saxophone. I just don’t get along with metal MPs, not sure why. I heard some great news that Nadir is going to be releasing the Guardalas but in Ebonite….that really caught my attention and got me excited! I’m hoping when Johnny heads out to the NAMM show in 2017 that they’ll have some of those on hand to be able to try and let us know what his take is on them. For me, I’m the kind of player who prefers the comfort of hard-rubber but loves the projection of metal, so Ebonite MPs work perfect for me because I get the best of both worlds with an Ebonite MP. Great job Jake, keep at it 🙂

[Mel]

Jake- Thanks for sharing. Jungleland is my favorite. Just saw Springsteen and the E Street Band in Milwaukee in March. 3 1/2hour show. At the end of the show Bruce was still jumping in place playing his guitar. Not bad for 66 years old. Jake didn’t miss a beat with his sax solos.

[jake]

Thanks guys.
Actually Michael I played this on my alto sax using my jumbo Java a45 mp. I believe this is an ebonite piece. I love the fatboy for my tenor and am considering trying one out for the alto in the future. So far I’m happy with the progression of my sound so I’m staying put for now.

[Author]

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