I am very happy to present saxophonist Shane Sampson from Australia! He is a very dedicated musician who started playing drums in 1977. He went to London Trinity College for Saxophone Studies and has since then been part of numerous musical project mainly in Australia.

What instrument(s) do you play?

My principle instrument is alto saxophone but I do have a tenor horn but focusing on alto and my 88’s past six months. I also play guitar and percussions.

What are your top 5 albums?

I guess ‘Kind of Blue’ by Miles is up there re favourite albums, i.e. first time I heard Cannonball …yikes! The albums Bird played on between 1947 to 1948, Sonny Stitt tribute to Bird with J.J. Johnson video/recording in 1963? Dexter Gordon – any Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Alex Terrier recordings and the list goes on and on and on. Incidentally, my girlfriend is buying your latest CD for my next birthday on February 14th – can’t wait to run it through my KRK Rokit 6 studio monitors.

What are your current project(s)?

Working mainly on your personally designed wood shedding program – lot of work to cover, man ! When I need to chill I’ll blow over some recent Gladys Knight live soul tunes…she’s still hot !

What are some of your musical goals?

To finish your musical program with positive results and re-boot my song-writing skills – have hit a brick wall with that past few years.

How long have you been a JVL member?

Been a member of JVL since May, 2017.

What do you like about it?

JVL has been the biggest kick in my arse since my earlier days of study. You might find this odd, but your tutorial on ‘embouchure exercises’ has helped my tone and pitch greatly. I’ve got to do more work on this ! You’re a great teacher, Alex. It’s the unique way you articulate the complex nature of jazz language, so far you’re the best I’ve come across in terms of clarity. I struggle to get my head around certain things but am getting there …hopefully.

What’s your favorite video on JVL?

I think ‘Stop Requested’ is my fave video tutorial – still working on those exercises, man!! But, ya know … all your tutorials are gems.