The Doobie Brothers "Takin' It To The Streets" Sax solo by Cornelius Bumpus.

[Michael]

Hi guys,

A friend of mine through e-mail told me about a Sax player named Cornelius Bumpus and I’m like “never heard of him”. He then shared this video with me of Cornelius playing the famous Sax solo on the Song “Takin’ It To The Streets” I was told that Cornelius Bumpus did a number of Songs with the Doobie Brothers. I was listening carefully to how he’s Improvising with the Scale…good stuff. I think this solo is a great example of using the right amount of licks/riffs and making them standout v.s. using too many licks/riffs like I did, as Johnny brought out to me when I did Green Onions….and I’m glad that he did! I’m going to re-do Green Onions to smooth out with revised/simplified solos; it’s a learning process for me.

I set the timer shortly before the solo:

[john]

Yes, most definately. I played in a band that did this song many years ago and copied the solo note for note. Very simple but good example of what I was talking about Michael.

[Michael]

I wanted to break this solo down and learn it too, it just feels really good…this entire song is great. I’ve had this idea of taking this song and turning it into an Instrumental. Not sure if you think it would good as a Saxophone Instrumental using a combination of the lyrics, this solo and Improvisation to come up with something that you can call my own……just trying to be creative and have fun with it.
I was listening really carefully to this solo, and then listened really carefully to Brown Sugar….and then I did the same with the logical song from Supertramp, and then Smooth Operator from Sade…kept listening to different solos and I see what you mean. I feel like I have a good understanding of using these scales, but watching my playing of the Green Onions it’s more of just knowing when enough is enough…that’s what I got out what you’re saying. It’s all a learning process and I WILL get there 🙂
When you get a chance Johnny, I posted a question about Claude Lakey Mouthpieces for Tenor Saxophone in the Mouthpiece category, check it out when you can. There’s a local dealer here for Claude Lakey MPs and I got to try the same Alto MP that you did in your review of Trevor James Saxophones….WOW.

[john]

I can’t remember ever playing a CL on my tenor. If it’s really nice on alto I would definately try it on tenor if you have access to one. But I thought you had recently bought a really nice mp no?
This solo is only using the same 3-4 notes for about 80% of the entire solo…very easy to figure out and learn. Once you get the key you’ll know which blues scale he’s using.

[Michael]

Yes, that solo sounds to be pretty straight forward and feels really good. I would like to take that song and turn it into an Instrumental; especially the end of the song is perfect to solo out. Karaoke had a 1/2 decent track for it. I listened to it yesterday and it’s still running through my mind LOL Could also be a great project for you to do on your music selection.

For the Alto, yes I have a really nice MP so I’m good to go there, it’s the Tenor I wanted to look into options. I have been using a remake of the Guardala Studio MP for a while that I got off of Amazon, sounded good but as I have progressed my ears have become sensitive to projection. The remakes of the Guardala that you get on Amazon–no longer available–tended to be on the flat side. I tried it with my new Trevor James and some of the edgy, punch tone that this Sax naturally has sounded flat/dull. So I had a custom MP done….I discovered the blank used was a cheap blank from Bejing that you find off of ebay and when it resonates, going from one note to another, it’s very “harsh”. I’m looking into options…I did order a Claude Lakey for my Tenor and it’s scheduled to arrive today. I would much rather get a Theo Wanne but that will have to wait till late this year with the recent purchase of my Saxophones, moving into a new house this summer, etc.. We have to go out-of-town to Las Vegas, Nevada this summer too….it’s going to be a busy year for us as a family. I was curious about a Claude Lakey for Tenor when I saw your review. So I tried it on my Alto-the shop didn’t have one for Tenor in stock–pretty amazing. The notes just “pop” out and the tone is big, edgy and bright. I gave it more air supply from the diaphragm and then you can really hear that edge/projection come out! While I won’t say it’s as a good as a Theo Wanne, it definately was very, VERY good and wouldn’t hesitate to use it at all.

[Anonymous]

@Michael – don’t be too hasty to write off a mouthpiece that sounds flat/dull – work on it for month,
and IF there is no difference then write it off!
One of my favourite mouthpieces started out dull sounding,
now it prefer it to my other mouthpieces that initially sounded bright etc..!
The problem i find with bright mouthpieces is its harder to notice slight improvements in tone,
whereas with dull mouthpieces small changes are very noticeable!
But whatever floats your boat….

[Michael]

Great points JB, very good…and that’s what I did. We’ll see how it goes. In any case, I will be getting a Theo Wanne later this year for Tenor 🙂

[Michael]

Hey JB: I’m having a little minor adjustment work done to my Custom MBII that I used for the first time on The Green Onions. I had no problems playing it at all, very free blowing and Altissimo is nothing to hit on it. But to my ears when I played, it was coming across as just a little to “harsh” But I have been assured by my wife and a few others through e-mail; that’s not the case at all. They loved it and said it that it fit my personality very well LOL I called the guy who made it for me on the phone and e-mailed him the Green Onions video so he could see what I was talking about..he loved the sound/projection too and asked me over the phone, “are you crazy? That a killing sound!” LOL I guess I’m “hearing things”…if I keep going I’ll probably start hearing voices in my head LOL
Here’s the funny thing: The couple of pointers he gave me was EXACTLY the same as Johnny’s–slow down a little and simply your riffs/licks to make them really stand out and it will also sound much smoother to your ears. He felt I was using the Blues Scale really well, but thought if I simplified the licks/riffs a little then it would sound just that much better. He felt that there were some places where it was harsh like I’m hearing, but it had nothing to do with my playing but rather I just needed to slow down a little bit and it will sound much smoother to me. He told me to listen carefully to all of those great Sax solos we all love. I just casually mentioned “Brown Sugar” that I’m working on right now as an example…he doesn’t know I’m working on this solo in Killer Blues….and he said that was a perfect example. They’re not trying to do too much, and they’re saying more by playing just a little bit less. To the other extreme, I think it’s possible to NOT say enough in Improvising too. It’s a work in progress and a learning experience.

I did get the Claude Lakey in the mail today and started playing with it today on my practice…I’ll do a video demo/my own little review of it soon.

[jake]

I have been eye-balling a Theo tenor mp as well. I am very intrigued with the Shiva model, one of the newest and brightest pieces. I really wonder if there is any truth to the “shark gill” design it raves about. I will definitely purchase through WWBW though as with the costs of theses pieces, they have a return policy if its not for me.

[Anonymous]

@Michael – my sax teacher listened to me play on some of his mouthpieces – he picked out the dull/flat sounding mouthpiece and
i went out and bought one just to
humour him – turned out he was right – What we hear when we play is different to what other people hear!

The same goes for recordings – they never sound as good as the real sound!

@Jake – i bought the blue durga 3 alto mouthpiece – its like taking a rolls royce out of the garage – sadly too loud to play in my small room!

Theo’s mouthpieces are quality stuff! The only worrying thing i’ve noticed is he has discontinued making some of his mouthpieces? Which could be a good/bad thing?

[Author]

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